AltspaceVR
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Microsoft will shut down AltspaceVR on March 10th
Microsoft announced this week it would shut down AltspaceVR, the social virtual reality platform it acquired in 2017, to focus its Mesh mixed reality tech.
Microsoft shuts down AltspaceVR's social hubs to combat harassment
Microsoft is making a handful of changes to AltspaceVR to combat harassment within the virtual reality app.
Microsoft's AltSpaceVR lets you build a virtual hangout
Microsoft's AltspaceVR differs drastically from other social networks by letting you share the same (virtual) space with your friends. Now, it's giving you more places to hang out with custom building kits. You start with a virtual hangout based on the popular "Campfire" and "Alien Planet" spaces, then customize it by grabbing assets from a curated library of flora, structures and shapes. You can then host muliplayer social games within your space and even add custom 3D design and sound.
AltspaceVR co-founder joins Facebook's social VR team
Facebook announced today that Eric Romo, the former CEO and co-founder of AltSpaceVR, is joining its social VR team as Product Director. He'll be helping with Facebook's nascent but thriving social VR efforts, building upon the company's Facebook Spaces launch last year.
Microsoft buys AltspaceVR's struggling virtual hangout
When AltspaceVR announced that it was staying open after threatening to close its doors, it said it was "deep in discussions" with people who were passionate about it. Apparently one of those people was Microsoft, because the software giant has just announced that it's acquiring AltspaceVR, officially providing Windows Mixed Reality with a social VR solution. "With the AltspaceVR team onboard we look forward to building the world's preeminent mixed reality community," said Alex Kipman, Microsoft's Mixed Reality head, in a statement. If you're not familiar with AltspaceVR, it's sort of like a Second Life for VR. Even though AltspaceVR has only been around for a few years, it already has competition in the social VR space. Its biggest rival is arguably Facebook Spaces, which is the social network's attempt at a virtual hangout space. Of course, Spaces' big benefit is that it makes use of your existing Facebook network. But AltspaceVR has had successes too. It partnered with NBC to broadcast last year's presidential debates in VR and it's even hosted virtual comedy shows from Reggie Watts and Paul Scheer. AltspaceVR is accessible with Google Daydream, Samsung's Gear VR, the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. With the Microsoft acquisition, it's likely that AltspaceVR will be available on Windows Mixed Reality headsets as well.
AltspaceVR is keeping its virtual hangout open
AltspaceVR might have just saved its virtual world at the 11th hour, because the company is halting its plans to shut down. According to a new post by the team, AltspaceVR isn't closing down and is going to live on. It's still unclear what's going on behind the scenes, but the company says it's "now deep in discussions" with people who are "passionate about AltspaceVR" and "want to guarantee that [the] virtual oasis stays open."
Virtual reality hangout AltspaceVR will close in August
AltspaceVR, the social app that's sort of like Second Life for the Gear VR, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, "can't afford to keep the virtual lights on" anymore. The company has announced that it's closing down the application on August 3rd, 10 PM Eastern, due to unforeseen financial difficulties. While its investors last funded the project back in 2015, the shutdown still came as a surprise since it already had a deal in the works. Unfortunately, that deal suddenly fell through, and the team ran out of time to raise enough funds to keep the application running.
VR's latest victim: 'live' standup comedy
Comedy Living Room started in 2012 as a way for emerging stand-ups to try out gags in the safety of a friend's living room. Now, the event is embracing virtual reality, enabling everyone to watch a low-fi comedy gig in someone else's living room while you're sitting in your own... living room.
Samsung Gear VR users can mingle on AltspaceVR
Samsung Gear VR users can start making friends in a virtual reality world now that AltspaceVR has released its app for the headset to the public. In fact, they can mix and mingle not only with other Gear VR users, but also with people who use the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift*. You can think of AltspaceVR as something like Second Life for virtual reality. It's the same social platform Engadget editor Sean Buckley once used to play a VR game of Dungeons & Dragons.
