If you’re a company looking to embrace virtual offices and immersive, remote collaboration then there are a number of options available to you. One of the latest for Oculus Quest users is Arthur, a virtual workplace app that only launched back in March. Developer Arthur Technologies has just rolled out a new update to improve the service by expanding the room size as well as offering photorealistic avatars.
Arthur is split between consumer (intended for startups and individual professionals) and pro (currently in beta) models, with both receiving the photorealistic avatars update. The self-generatable avatars also feature accurate lip synchronization and various wardrobe options so it actually looks like you’re talking to someone, further aiding that feeling of presence.
The Pro model also gets a few added extras for companies to experiment with. There’s the expanded room capacity to more than 50 participants in VR, enabling large corporations to conduct internal meetings on a grander scale. The inclusion of Audio Zones allows people to hold private conversations with a subgroup of people with meetings, plus speech-to-text capabilities users can simply record their voice to generate notes.
“While most VR platforms offer simple meetings with a few people, Arthur is mainly used for large-scale brainstorming sessions with whiteboards, flow charts, and other complex meetings in real-time,” said Christoph Fleischmann, Founder and CEO of Arthur in a statement. “We are making the virtual office a highly sought-after solution for the enterprise space, combining a collaborative and highly productive meeting environment with realistic settings to meet with colleagues and coworkers, such as a coffee bar.”
“Since our launch in December 2020, we’ve received great feedback from our professional users on how they’re currently using the platform, and how they’d like to use it for virtual collaboration going forward,” Fleischmann continued. “We’re continuously finding ways to adapt to the evolving needs of our clients and are looking forward to what’s next for Arthur.”
Arthur has been in development for four years already being used by major Fortune 500 companies and organisations like the United Nations. It allows users to integrate platforms like Google Drive so they can share files and 3D models, supporting formats including MP4, PNG, PPTX, and more. As the collaboration app continues to improve its services VRFocus will let you know.