| AltspaceVR | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Microsoft |
| Initial release | May 2015; defunct as of March 10, 2023 |
| Operating system | Windows 10,Oculus Quest,Oculus Rift,Windows Mixed Reality,HTC Vive,Mac OS Beta |
| Type | Virtual reality community |
| Website | altvr |
AltspaceVR was a socialVirtual reality (VR) platform that was founded in 2013 by Eric Romo[1] and launched its initial product in May 2015. In 2017 it was acquired byMicrosoft[2] and became part of the Mixed Reality division (alongside notable products likeHoloLens andHoloLens 2) within theCloud and AI group. Some elements of the platform appear inMicrosoft Mesh.[3]
The platform largely consisted of user-generated spaces called "worlds", which could be visited by other users. Individuals could gather, talk, collaborate, and be co-present in small to large groups.
The platform was regularly home to a wide variety of live virtual events fromVR church[4] and LGBTQI+ meetups[5] to large business conferences and magic shows.[6]
In January 2023 Microsoft announced on the AltspaceVR Homepage that the service would be shutting down on March 10, 2023.[7][8]
AltspaceVR was organised in spaces called "worlds", which could be found and accessed via a floating menu or via in-world "teleporters". Some large worlds, such as the "Campfire", were built and maintained by official developers as places for users to meet and interact. As of May 2022, AltVR removed all developer-maintained worlds.
Altspace's internal menus included a list of "featured" user-defined worlds and a real-time list of the most "popular" worlds, arranged by the number of users currently visiting each world. Other menus listed current and planned "events", which took place inside official or user-generated worlds.[citation needed]
In 2020 AltspaceVR hosted BRCvr, aBurning Man event.[9]
AltspaceVR supported several VR headsets:
The platform was available as a traditional desktop application for Mac and Windows, and had a non-VR Android app until 2019.[12]
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