Microsoft CEO: mixed reality to transform collaboration

Satya Nadella

New technologies like virtual and augmented reality could fundamentally transform collaboration and teamwork, according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Speaking at Microsoft’s Ignite event in Orlando, Florida yesterday, Nadella used Ford as one example of a company that is using mixed reality (MR) to help in its design and engineering processes, and hinted at the wider applications of MR.

“It’s not about any one device and its capabilities, it’s really about this rich cloud service in Microsoft 365 that helps orchestrate a new level of collaboration inside of your organisation. That’s the vision that we have,” said Nadella.

Commenting on the keynote, CCS Insight analyst, Nick McQuire, described it as “another big step forward for mixed reality,” which played a prominent opening role in the speech.

“The combination of Hololens with Microsoft 365, Teams and Dynamics applications were demoed extensively and point to a future where the technology will be an increasingly important part of collaborative work of the future.”

Microsoft said its new Windows Mixed Reality headsets will be available starting October 17.