AltspaceVR was a social VR platform that was founded in 2013 by Eric Romo[1] and launched its initial product in May 2015. In 2017 it was acquired by Microsoft[2] and became part of the Mixed Reality division (alongside notable products like HoloLens and HoloLens 2) within the Cloud and AI group. Some elements of the platform appear in Microsoft Mesh.[3]
| Developer(s) | 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 |
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 from VR church[4] and LGBTQI+ meetups[5] to large business conferences and magic shows.[6]
In January 2023 it was announced on the AltspaceVR Homepage that the service would be shutting down on March 10, 2023.[7][8]
Worlds
editAltspaceVR 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.
Events
editNotable events that took place within AltspaceVR included:
- a virtual fashion show for 2020 Paris Fashion week[9]
- a red carpet premiere of Baba Yaga with celebrities Jennifer Hudson and Daisy Ridley[10] was held in a VR world produced by Big Rock Creative.
- In 2020 AltspaceVR was home to BRCvr, a recognized universe of the Burning Man multiverse.[11]
- In 2021 AltspaceVR was home to Thursday Night Club Premier
- In 2022 AltspaceVR hosted the book launch of new sci-fi short stories book with introduction by Douglas Rushkoff and "The Summoned" story by Eva Pascoe with live feed from authors by Zoom into Altspace event venue
Supported hardware
editAltspaceVR supported several VR headsets:
- SteamVR devices (HTC Vive, Valve Index...)
- Oculus Rift/Rift-S via Oculus Store
- Oculus Quest/Quest 2 (as a standalone app, or via Oculus Link)
- Windows Mixed Reality devices
- Samsung Gear VR (discontinued mid-2020[12])
- Oculus Go (discontinued 2020[13])
- Google Daydream (discontinued 2019[14])
The platform was available as a traditional desktop application for Mac and Windows, and had a non-VR Android app until 2019.[14]
See also
edit- Horizon Worlds
- Resonite - A social VR game with in-game building features.
References
edit- ^ Gaudioso, John (20 May 2015). "This company created the first social platform for virtual reality". fortune.com.
- ^ Eadicicco, Lisa (3 October 2017). "Microsoft Just Bought a Virtual Reality Company to Challenge Facebook". Time.
- ^ "Microsoft Mesh feels like the virtual future of Microsoft Teams meetings". The Verge. 2 March 2021.
- ^ "Religion in the Digital Age". BBC. April 2020.
- ^ "AltspaceVR on Oculus Go". Oculus. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
- ^ Harry, Baker (August 25, 2020). "'Magicians In VR' Event In AltspaceVR Will Feature Talks And Live Magic". UploadVR.
- ^ "AltspaceVR: Home". AltspaceVR. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
- ^ AltspaceVR, Team (2023-01-20). "AltspaceVR to Sunset the Platform on March 10, 2023". AltspaceVR. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
- ^ Roddy, Clarke (June 30, 2020). "First Ever Virtual Reality Summit To Take Place During Paris Fashion Week In October 2020". Forbes.
- ^ Eric, Kohn (January 13, 2021). "Jennifer Hudson and Daisy Ridley Take Avatars and Publicists Into VR for a Red Carpet Premiere". IndieWire.
- ^ Peter, Rubin (September 9, 2020). "Covid Snuffed Out Burning Man—but the Festival Goes On in VR". WIRED.
- ^ AltspaceVR (2020-06-08). "AltspaceVR Plans to Sunset Support for GearVR - AltspaceVR - AltspaceVR Plans to Sunset Support for GearVR". AltspaceVR. Archived from the original on 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ AltspaceVR (2020-11-02). "Saying Farewell to the Oculus Go - AltspaceVR - Saying Farewell to the Oculus Go". AltspaceVR. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ a b "r/AltspaceVR - Retiring Daydream and Google Play support". reddit. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-21.