Meeting Up in Virtual Reality

Liang Men 04.03.2021

We all wish we have the technology shown in the movie "Ready Player 1", so everyone can join the Oasis, meeting and talking with each other safely, even during the pandemic. Unfortunately, we are not there yet.

Today, based on our experience in carrying out tutorials and organising events in Virutal Reality, I want to talk a bit more about the meeting up in Virtual Reality, particularly, using the currently social VR platforms we have on the market.

Let us start with what we wish to have, the "Oasis".

"Except for eating, sleeping and bathroom breaks, whatever people want to do, they do it in the Oasis. And since everyone is here, this is where we meet each other. This is where we make friends."

The truth is with current VR key enabling technology (e.g. tracking, display, audio etc), we are far far away from the "Oasis".

AltspaceVR shows most of the available features in the current online social VR.

(If you have not heard of AltspaceVR, the company was founded in 2013, Altspace VR was firstly launched in 2015, the company was acquired by Microsoft in 2017)

BUT

VR Meetups do bring lots of features that can not be provided by 2D meetings (e.g. Zoom meeting). I will introduce a few of them based on my own experience.

Navigation in 3D environment, steoscopic view, & spatial Audio.

These features provided by VR enable you can move/look/hear freely, with steoscopic view and spatilized sound.

Streaming slides.

Like a real presentation, you can use a virtual laser pen to draw audiences' attentions.

This is achieved by streaming a browser into the VR. A detailed tutorial has been written if you are interested

Streaming videos.

Steaming videso is also supported.

Laser pen & Mic.

Like a real presentation, you can use a virtual laser pen to draw audiences' attentions. Similarly, you have the virtual mic to make your voice louder.

Warmup activities

There are some social activities supported, which can be used for icebreaking

Avatar Personalization

Users can make up their avatars.

Freedom to choose/amend meeting room

There are quite some templates available, and the user can also modify the meeting room using the world outliner.

A tutorial for setting up VR meeting using AltSpace VR:

shorturl.at/auvA

Apart from AltspaceVR, there are also many other applications available on the market.

Does every attendee have to use VR to access the meeting?

No, many social VR platforms support not only VR HMDs, but also Windows, Mac or browser.

Is VR meeting better than Zoom meeting?

Yes and no. Whist it brings many advantages, it is problematic as well. For example, it takes longer to set up.

Though people can join the meetup without HMDs, to fulfill VR's potential, it is better that everyone has a VR headset.