Microsoft Makes Drastic Cuts to Mixed Reality and VR Teams - Redmond Channel Partner

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Microsoft Makes Drastic Cuts to Mixed Reality and VR Teams

• By Kurt Mackie
• January 24, 2023

Microsoft has eliminated immoderate of its mixed world and augmented world improvement teams. 

For instance, Microsoft's full squad moving connected its Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) has been "eliminated," according to Microsoft developer Finn Sinclair, in a Jan. 19 Twitter post. Also, Microsoft volition beryllium "shutting down" AltspaceVR connected "March 10, 2023," according to this Microsoft "Overview" document and the AltspaceVR Web site. Additionally, this period saw a softening successful Congressional backing for the U.S. Army's HoloLens contract, according to a Jan. 12 study by Bloomberg.com.

Those changes, coming with Microsoft's planned 10,000 occupation cuts, suggest a pullback of sorts from the company's highly publicized efforts centered connected Microsoft Mesh, a mixed world level for creating avatars to correspond radical successful virtual spaces.

Microsoft, though, recently showed disconnected Mesh arsenic portion of the Davos, Switzerland World Economic Forum event.

Mixed Reality Toolkit Team Axed
The cutting of the MRTK squad astatine Microsoft is somewhat astonishing arsenic MRTK is simply a constituent that's utilized with Microsoft Mesh.

MRTK was recently announced astatine procreation 3. It's a "Microsoft-driven unfastened root task to accelerate cross-platform mixed world improvement successful Unity," a games motor level offering from Unity Technologies for 2D and 3D games development.

AltspaceVR Ending successful March
Also ending volition beryllium AltspaceVR, Microsoft's level for "live mixed world experiences," which is utilized for meetings with avatars. Microsoft volition beryllium "shutting down" AltspaceVR connected March 10, 2023.

Microsoft's AltspaceVR "Overview" papers included a enactment stating that AltspaceVR volition crook into immoderate benignant of "community space," with age-appropriate controls. However, its destiny wasn't truly described.

AltspaceVR conceptually has been portion of the Microsoft Mesh level for processing mixed world apps for headsets. AltspaceVR was described arsenic enabling "new endeavor capabilities" for Microsoft Mesh, per this March 2021 Microsoft Tech Community post, which offered the pursuing chart:

[Click connected representation for larger view.] Figure 1. The Microsoft Mesh level for developers, which included AltspaceVR apps (source: March 2, 2021 Microsoft Tech Community post).

Microsoft Mesh is Microsoft's mixed world platform, based connected Azure services. It's aimed astatine creating spaces for ample virtual meetings. It works with HoloLens, Microsoft's mixed world oregon augmented world headset, via the Mesh App.

HoloLens Setback
HoloLens, Microsoft's headset for mixed world experiences, suffered an evident setback erstwhile Congress chopped backmost connected the U.S. Army's backing for it. HoloLens is getting tested for usage successful combat operations arsenic portion of the Army's Integrated Visual Augmentation System.

Congress conscionable allowed $40 cardinal to close HoloLens flaws retired of an Army petition for $400 cardinal for the fiscal year, according to a Jan. 12 study by Bloomberg.com. Microsoft's headsets were said to person caused "headaches, eyestrain and nausea" during and aft 72-hour trial scenarios, per the report.

The Army's HoloLens contract, estimated by Microsoft astatine $21.88 billion, had been put connected clasp backmost successful 2021 aft undergoing tract tests, but was resumed successful 2022.