Last Friday, Zoom announced an alliance with Microsoft Teams to enable users to receive cross-platform calls and share meeting data between the services without requiring extra licenses or third-party assistance.
Notably, the update includes consideration towards upcoming artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR) powered features to enhance video conferencing on Zoom and Teams.
Sameer Raje, the General Manager and Head, India and SAARC at Zoom, said:
The world today is more about technology. The collaboration will continue and evolve and new technologies such as AI/VR are going to come in and this will be enhanced.
The general manager also noted that Zoom can enhance collaboration across sectors “such as BFSI, pharma, and education.”
Zoom is also introducing Smart Gallery, an integrated AI-powered system that lets users control a participant’s video feed.
Additionally, Zoom is debuting Room Colltroller, a sister smartphone application that allows a meeting host to stop and start recordings without disrupting an ongoing video conference.
Zoom, which employs over 6,000 people globally, is planning to hire more employees in India. India’s extended reality (XR) sector is growing expeditionary, with firms like JioGlass developing home-grown talent. Also, Microsoft and Accenture are guiding Indian technology firms to establish an XR presence in the region.
Microsoft Mesh: Enterprise-Grade Metaverse Collaboration
Last year, Microsoft introduced Mesh, a component of its Azure service that enables workers to collaborate within an immersive VR space with entirely digitised avatars.
Microsoft designed Mesh as a cross-platform service which works on VR headsets, desktops, and mobiles. Microsoft also built Mesh to run on the Hololens 2, a mixed reality (MR) headset that supports emerging industry 4.0 opportunities.
Additional Microsoft Mesh features include:
- Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Accounts, and Graph support
- Fully animated avatars that simulate a user’s eye movement, facial expressions, and gestures
- Spatial audio
- Photorealistic “holoportation”
- Advanced security and privacy features
In November, Microsoft introduced Mesh for Teams, adding immersive collaboration tools to the popular hybrid working service. The integration enables users to seamlessly transition from a 2D video screen into a 3D VR collaboration space.
Additionally, during this week’s LIVE 2022 event by Cisco, the firm is introducing 3D Frame, a new tool for its Webex Meetings platform.
Developed by Vection Technologies, 3D Frame enables a meeting host to seamlessly transition from a traditional Webex video conference into an immersive VR collaboration space.
