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- From among 1,500 team members involved in Microsoft’s Project HoloLens, around 100 employees have evacuated the team with approximately 40 having transitioned to rival augmented reality company, Meta.
- The list of defectors also had the names of Apple’s team members as former Apple employees have also shifted to Meta.
- Microsoft has also announced its metaverse studio named Vortex, whose focus unlike other metaverse projects wouldn’t be great on the virtual world.
Almost 100 employees left their jobs at Microsoft’s augmented reality (AR) division as per the latest reports of The Wall Street Journal. It is also reported that the majority of the employees migrated to Meta, the rival tech company, and its metaverse initiative. The huge exodus happened simultaneously as tech firms are competing to become the market’s leader.
The ex-employees of the tech giant were associated with the Microsoft HoloLens product, the augmented reality headset that has found its application in enterprises. Microsoft is slowly refining the device that hasn’t been yet able to create a space for itself in commercial applications.
According to the WSJ, employees have been allured by higher salaries. Formerly Facebook, Meta is leading the metaverse initiative so far. Plans of Apple to explore the metaverse were also in the news recently, however, the tech mammoth is focusing only on the shorter experience for now.
As per the reports, Apple’s team members were also among the employees who transitioned to Meta. However, Meta hasn’t yet commented about their recruiting process.
The multinational entertainment company, Disney has joined in the space with its latest patent showing a potential amusement park set in the metaverse. Companies such as Nvidia and Block, formerly known as Square, have also worked in space.
With the release of more experience and VR/AR devices becoming more affordable, the competition in the metaverse sphere is rising with each day. The upcoming years will be quite exciting for the enthusiasts as more offerings are going to come from both decentralized projects and tech firms.
Microsoft has also announced its metaverse studio dubbed Vortex, which will be rooted in reality. Although not clear, it is being predicted that contrary to other metaverse projects, its focus wouldn’t be much on the virtual world.
The company has also listed various job openings for the Vortex. “bring together collaborative science, missions to benefit our planet, and entertainment all while pushing the forefront of technology” reads the description for the senior designer studio.
The experience that leverages the HoloLens device to get physical locations into the mix, is the company’s main priority right now.
The coming years will witness a tsunami of content in the VR/AR space with big enterprises competing to develop innovative metaverse projects. It will also be interesting to witness how cryptocurrency projects will coexist with the booming space of metaverse; it is, however, likely to play a major role in the space.