AltspaceVR

AltspaceVR is a social network whose members communicate using virtual reality, namely the Oculus Rift, Gear VR and HTC Vive devices. Users of the service demonstrate various comedy scenes, discuss the presidential election, watch all kinds of important events live, etc. By July 2017, AltspaceVR had 35 thousand users who went online at least once a month.

History

2023: Social network closure

On January 20, 2023, Microsoft announced the rollout of the AltspaceVR project - social network reality (VR). The initiative did not meet the expectations of the American corporation.

It is said that the AltspaceVR site was seen as a place where people from all over the world could communicate in real time. We are talking about games with the effect of immersion in virtual space, the ability to establish business connections, etc. However, in the current macroeconomic situation, these plans will not be possible.

Microsoft closes a failed social network in virtual reality

We believed that virtual reality could be a place for immersive games, and more importantly, we believed in the ability of the social VR concept to bring people together, make connections and share experiences. It was a bold vision of the future. To achieve this, we made the difficult decision to close the AltpaceVR platform on March 10, 2023 and shift the focus to supporting immersive experiences based on Microsoft Mesh, the company said.

News of the project's closure comes after Microsoft said it would lay off 10,000 employees by the end of March 2023. According to reports, the corporation plans to reduce the entire AltspaceVR team as part of the announced reorganization plan.

It is reported that the company will continue to work in the field of VR. Microsoft notes that it will focus efforts on the Mesh mixed reality platform. The company aims to create a system that will "offer the broadest opportunities for all market participants," including content creators, partners and customers, as well as create jobs around the world. Microsoft Mesh allows you to get a complete sense of presence. For example, people have the impression that they are in the same room, even when they are on different continents. Users can interact with 3D content or with each other through Mesh-enabled apps on any platform or device. With Mesh, you can organize the so-called "holoportation," transmitting a photorealistic image in mixed reality, as well as create virtual avatars with which you can express emotions.^[1]

2018: Building a church in AltspaceVR

In February 2018, it became known that the American pastor D.J. Soto opened the world's first virtual reality (VR) church. He gives sermons using the service and AltSpaceVR, and tries to convince colleagues that it is necessary to invest in the creation of an extensive network of VR churches, since in the future religion will feel quite comfortable in virtual space.

For the first time, D.J. Soto met virtual reality in the summer of 2016 - then AltSpaceVR, which positions itself as a social network in virtual reality, was barely a year old. Despite the sparsely populated new virtual world, Soto decided it was the ideal site for a new church.

American pastor D.J. Soto, who opened the first church in virtual reality

Soto resigned from the church in Pennsylvania, where he had previously sent services, a few months before getting acquainted with the AltSpaceVR service. Soto had long been looking for a way to find a way to the heart of unbelievers, but did not see the opportunity for this in the bosom of a traditional church, whose worship services are always attended by the same people. Soto and his wife decided to take the risk - having resigned from the church, the young preacher sold his house and almost all the property, bought a nine-meter trailer and went to Kalifrnia across America with his wife and five children. Soto was going to convey church teachings to the laity in the latest way - giving sermons on the way to everyone. However, along the way, his plans changed thanks to his acquaintance with AltSpaceVR.

In 2013, Soto already tried to apply the latest technology for the benefit of church teaching, reading sermons online for everyone who could not attend them in reality - the elderly, sick, disabled. Even then, Soto planned to establish his own online church, but abandoned these plans. But the meeting with virtual reality changed everything - two days after meeting the AltSpaceVR service, Soto read the first sermon there, and ten months later he opened the world's first church in virtual space.

Soto's new VR church is popular not only with believers, but also with atheists. He reads his sermons in a virtual space, and everyone can join them. In addition to believers who usually attend church on Sundays, atheists who are interested in such an application of high technologies can also be found at a virtual sermon. According to Soto, his church will be able to easily attract both young people and those who have never attended church out of fear or embarrassment. In many ways, the attractiveness of Soto's VR church is explained by the relaxed atmosphere prevailing in virtual sermons. For example, Soto himself uses an avatar in the form of a silver robot, during the singing of psalms subtitles with their text appear, and then - emojis with applause. Soto believes that the use of avatars in virtual reality encourages people to express their opinions more freely. While Soto is careful not to address questionable ethical issues such as abortion resolution in sermons, he welcomes the discussion of faith as such and its scientific argument.

Pastor D.J. Soto delivers his sermons with virtual reality social service AltSpaceVR

Traditional abbots do not yet know how to respond to this initiative. In 2002, the Catholic Church officially declared that online services would not be held, as they could not provide sufficient communication between the clergyman and the believer and did not allow such important priesthood as baptism and communion. Many abbots believe that in virtual reality, the boundaries of personality are erased, which introduces believers into sin, and despite the fact that the Soto VR church attracts atheists, the virtual preacher may simply not cope with his direct duties towards the flock.

Soto himself, meanwhile, plans to organize a crowdfunding company to raise funds to expand the religious project. The pastor plans to create a small "church universe" in AltSpaceVR with interactive biblical elements that allow the flock to see with their own eyes, for example, the story of David and Goliath.^[2]

2017: Microsoft buys AltspaceVR

In early October 2017, Microsoft announced the acquisition of AltspaceVR in order to improve its virtual reality (VR) projects.

Microsoft is very happy to integrate communication technology into our mixed reality ecosystem, says a Microsoft spokesman in an interview with TechCrunch. - Modern social projects can be lopsided, with one person posting text, photos and videos and others then consuming it. But AltspaceVR takes social media, combines it with projects in real time and uses the immersive effect to share not just messages but whole situations. Situations involving people, places and things have deeper meaning and are therefore better remembered.

Microsoft bought a social network using virtual reality

Microsoft did not disclose the cost of acquiring AltspaceVR. During its history, the startup has attracted more than $15 million in investments. Microsoft promises to keep the AltspaceVR service running.

The AltspaceVR team will join Microsoft in helping the latter differentiate its mixed reality platform among competing solutions. We are talking about the Windows Mixed Reality platform, designed for VR devices running Windows 10.

In 2017, Microsoft, together with other manufacturers, began to release a large number of VR headsets at low prices - from $300.^[3]

Notes