Microsoft unveils Mesh tech for video chat app Teams

With this technology people can join virtual meetings, send chats, collaborate on shared documents and more.

Now, everyone in a meeting can be present without being physically present, using personalised avatars and immersive spaces that can be accessed from any device, with no special equipment needed.

"Mesh builds on existing Teams features such as Together mode and Presenter mode that make remote and hybrid meetings more collaborative and immersive," said Jeff Teper, a Microsoft corporate vice president.

Mesh for Teams – which anyone will be able to access from standard smartphones and laptops to mixed-reality headsets – is designed to make online meetings more personal, engaging and fun.

"It's also a gateway to the metaverse – a persistent digital world that is inhabited by digital twins of people, places and things," the company said during its annual 'Ignite 2021' conference late on Tuesday.

Mesh for Teams will roll out with a set of pre-built immersive spaces to support a variety of contexts, from meetings to social mixers.

Over time, organisations will be able to build custom immersive spaces like the Nth Floor with Mesh and deploy them to Teams.

In his keynote address, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said that 'Teams Connect' enables shared channels that could be useful for communicating with external parties such as customers, partners and suppliers.

"With Teams Connect, powered by our identity platform, you can establish seamless, secure and trusted collaboration across organisational boundaries in a matter of minutes," he said.