Today Arthur VR is debuting to the world as the latest VR meeting and virtual spaces application specifically designed for enterprise-focused clients. Additionally, the company also raised $2.5 in Series A funding with Silicon Valley CD Draper Associates.
Arthur is launching in “beta” today to allow interested companies the ability to try out its virtual office space services. The application is of course available in VR headsets like the Oculus Quest but also in private web browsers for non-VR mode too.
In the company’s background information document it explains that Arthur was “built with the realization that workers are still far too reliant on physical meetings based on locale” but that same mantra can apply to countless other VR applications.
However, one thing that’s pretty special about Arthur is that all of its development occurred inside VR. The company does not have a physical office space or commuters at all.
I got a brief demonstration of Arthur last week that really showed off the same-room collaborative tools. Whereas other apps such as Rec Room, Bigscreen, Altspace VR, VRChat, and others are all trying to adapt and pivot to more professional use cases.
In Arthur you get slide decks you can import, 3D models you can manipulate for fun or to setup and decorate your office, and even whiteboards to write on alongside virtual monitors. Not to mention existing in the same space as everyone no matter the distance and obviously saving on real estate costs since there is no need for a physical office space.
If Bigscreen is the best way to watch TV and movies in VR, Arthur wants to be the easiest and most responsive way to have professional meetings in VR that doesn’t require retrofitting an existing application.
Rather than beaming you to the surface of Jupiter to have a meeting, Arthur is more interested in replicating the sense of standing in a conference room, along with the usual VR mechanics such as teleportation to move around and the ability to lift and move anything with your hands.
I appreciated the 3D model that the development team had made for me, pictured above, even if it looks a bit silly. However, there is no lip sync and every character is always wearing sunshades since they all have dead, static eyes. That being said, it looks pretty glorious, does it not?
The short list of featured current clients includes the United Nations; Societe Generale, one of the leading European financial services groups; one of the largest automotive companies in the world and one of the largest professional services firms in the world.
What do you think of the Arthur news? Is this the type of app you could see you or your company using at some point in the near future? Let us know down in the comments below!
