After Facebook changed its name to Meta to reflect its engagement with the metaverse, Microsoft too is gearing up to launch its own version, which is likely to focus on the corporate world. Speaking about the metaverse, a space where digital avatars of people interact at work and play, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tweeted that the metaverse is “not only transforming how we see the world but how we participate in it.” He also shared a video that showed how Microsoft planned to integrate itself into the emerging virtual world.

“As the digital and physical worlds come together, we are creating an entirely new platform layer, which is the metaverse. In a sense the metaverse enables us to embed computing into the real world and embed the real world into computing, bringing real presence to any digital space,” Nadella said at the beginning of the video.

Nadella added it’s no longer about just looking at the camera view of a scene. In fact, people can be at the scene. It’s no longer just videoconferencing with colleagues, you can be with them in the same room. Mesh, a collaborative platform for virtual experiences, with Microsoft Teams will allow you to connect with your avatar and have a shared immersive experience directly in Teams, Nadella said.

Then, in the video, a few digital avatars show how the MS Teams work in the metaverse. These animated avatars can mimic your voice by listening to it using artificial intelligence. The avatars move around freely and have face-to-face conversations easily. It can also be used for training new hires working remotely. The new hires can get into the same environment as their team leaders, which help them form immediate and deeper connections.

The Mesh can be integrated with Microsoft 365, lending more corporate outlook for Microsoft’s entry into the metaverse. “We can’t wait to see what you build and how you bring people together with this technology,” said Nadella.