| Microsoft Mesh | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer | Microsoft | ||||
| Initial release | 7 September 2023; 2 years ago (2023-09-07) | ||||
| Final release(s)[±] | |||||
| |||||
| Operating system | |||||
| Predecessor | AltspaceVR | ||||
| Successor | Microsoft Teams Immersive | ||||
| Type | Mixed reality | ||||
| Website | www | ||||
Microsoft Mesh was a cloud-based platform for collaboration inmixed reality, offering it both as an app andas a service. Microsoft Mesh leveragedMicrosoft 365 to allow people in different physical locations, using different types of devices, to participate and collaborate in a shared immersive space. There were two different applications of Mesh: Immersive Spaces inMicrosoft Teams and custom environments developed withUnity and used with a dedicated Mesh client application.[4]
While Microsoft makes theHololens 2 and has partnered with most major PC manufacturers like HP to build Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets, Microsoft Mesh was designed to be device and operating system agnostic. However, it only supported Windows andMeta VR headsets.
It made use of elements of theAltspaceVR platform Microsoft acquired in 2017.[5] Mesh was first announced at Microsoft'sIgnite conference in 2021.[6]
Microsoft Mesh officially transitioned out of its preview phase and was released in January 2024, becoming a listed component of Microsoft Teams, although also having its standalone app.[7] Ahead ofIgnite 2024, Christian Cawley wrote forTechRadar that "some might argue [that the promise of Mesh] has yet to be fully delivered.[8]
Microsoft has worked with companies such asAccenture andTakeda to test Mesh.[9]
Mesh as a stand-alone platform was shut down in December 2025, with its functionality now built directly into Microsoft Teams.The Register described the shutdown as "the end of an era" for Microsoft, as the company moved away from immersive environments and instead focused further onartificial intelligence.[10]