Microsoft is looking to make good use of its social VR platform AltspaceVR next week as it hosts its first Ignite keynote in virtual reality.
Alex Kipman, technical fellow at Microsoft’s AI and Mixed Reality team, announced that the virtual event will be taking place in the company’s social VR platform for all to join, either in-headset or via livestream video.
Kipman, who was one of the fundamental drivers behind the creation of HoloLens, says the keynote is slated to be an experience that will offer “more immersion than you’ve ever seen before.”
AltspaceVR has changed quite a bit since the first days of consumer VR, and even more so after Microsoft acquired the ailing social platform in 2017. Since then, AltspaceVR has been refocused as an event platform that hosts user-created meetups of all sorts. AltspaceVR supports SteamVR headsets, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Quest.
We’re not sure what to expect from the keynote, but it’s certainly making good use of VR as a way to bypass the whole social distancing phenomenon which has disrupted all manner of yearly expo and conference. Whatever the case, Microsoft is using the all-digital event to talk about new products, so it may have something VR/AR up its sleeves.
Although you can sign up for all other talks by registering, the VR keynote hasn’t been officially posted yet, however you should find it on the AltspaceVR event page closer to the kickoff of the event, which starts on March 2nd at 8AM PT (local time here). Make sure to check out the full list of events and keynotes for the three-day event here, and signup for special digital access.
Besides the XR-centric keynote, another highlight of Ignite 2021 is invariably a talk from Simon Skaria, director of HoloLens and computer vision at Microsoft, which promises to include info on the company’s vision for the future of mixed reality. We’ll be following along throughout Ignite, so make sure to check back then.