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Zoom announces new immersive meeting app for Apple Vision Pro
Zoom has announced a new app for Apple Vision Pro, set to launch on February 2, 2024. The app will support immersive meeting environments. Features also include spatial representations of users called "Personas" and a "Spatial Zoom experience" for customizable immersive meetings. Additional features expected later this spring include 3D object sharing, team chat integration, and pinning up to five meeting participants in your physical surroundings.
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A Rec Room port for PSVR 2 would not be economically viable, says co-founder
The developers of popular social VR app Rec Room have decided not to port to Sony's Playstation VR 2 due to high costs. The company's co-founder, Cameron Brown, stated in a Reddit AMA that while they'd love to bring the app to PSVR 2, the economic reality makes it unfeasible: "No current plans to bring it into PSVR 2. We've looked into RR, it's a non-trivial port, and we haven't found a way to make it make economic sense. In an ideal world, we would love to bring RR to PSVR 2, but we can't justify the cost based on the numbers. Sucks I know, but that's the truth."
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Microsoft Teams launches immersive 3D and VR meetings on Meta Quest
Microsoft is integrating its mixed reality platform, Microsoft Mesh, into Teams today, allowing users to participate in immersive 3D and VR meetings. Mesh meetings in Virtual Reality currently only support Meta Quest 3, Quest 2, and Quest Pro. The 3D virtual meetings feature spatial audio and offer customizable 3D environments. All standard Mesh features will be available with Microsoft Teams business plans, while a Teams Premium license is required to deploy custom immersive rooms.
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Immersive art exhibition showcases Claude Monet's work in Virtual Reality
"Claude Monet: The Immersive Experience" comes to Washington, DC. The exhibition features a replica of the painter's studio and many of his works. A 360-degree installation spanning nearly 20,000 square feet features two-story projections of his art. Visitors can also explore eight of Monet's works, including "Poppies" and "Haystacks, End of Summer," in Virtual Reality. Digital representations of Monet's gardens at Giverny and reproductions of his most notable paintings are also on display. The exhibition opens at the Rhode Island Center on February 16 and runs through October. Tickets go on sale January 25 at 11 am.
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Apple wants to offer more music in Spatial Audio format
Apple Music will reportedly pay artists a 10 percent higher royalty rate for music offered in spatial audio format. The new financial incentives are intended to further accelerate the distribution of spatial music in the Apple Music catalog. This would also benefit Apple Vision Pro users, who would be able to enjoy an audio-visual spatial experience. According to Apple, more than 90 percent of subscribers have already tried Spatial Audio, and the total number of Spatial Audio plays has more than tripled in the last two years.