While Microsoft was holding its rather bland and business-as-usual Surface Event with the Surface Laptop 5, Surface Pro 9, and Surface Studio 2+, Meta was holding its Meta Connect 2022 event. Here, the company announced the Meta Quest Pro, a VR headset that will guide users through the Metaverse. Interestingly, Microsoft was also involved in this unveiling too.
One of the big announcements surrounding the Meta Quest Pro is the inclusion of workspaces in Meta's Metaverse virtual world. To help drive this feature, Meta is collaborating with Microsoft and Accenture.
Specifically, Microsoft will provide the productivity services that will make the Meta Quest Pro interesting as a workspace platform. For example, integration with Microsoft Teams allows users to enter immersive meetings within the metaverse. That includes accessing Teams workrooms with a Meta Avatar.
Furthermore, Microsoft 365 on Meta Quest devices (including the Pro and Meta Quest 2) provides personalized access to Office apps. Word and Excel will be presented in 2D within the Metaverse. Security and management is also available from Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory.
Collaboration
Both Meta and Microsoft are also working with Accenture to “transform the way they engage employees, interact with customers, or create products and services in the metaverse.” Users can access the Software Vendor Program to use AR/VR/XR-related solutions.
While Microsoft has its own metaverse aspirations, the company has previously said it sees itself as different to Meta. In fact, the two have already collaborated on creating the Metaverse Standards Forum.
The aim of the group is to encourage an open and interoperable set of standards for virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D tech, and geospatial.
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