Subj : This could be the most pointless Microsoft Teams meeting update y
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Tue Mar 28 2023 16:45:03

This could be the most pointless Microsoft Teams meeting update yet

Date:
Tue, 28 Mar 2023 15:35:04 +0000

Description:
Metaverse avatars in video conferences still look terrible and are ultimately 
embarrassing, please stop developing them, everyone.

FULL STORY
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As threatened, animated avatars have been released for Microsoft Teams into 
public preview, with a general release expected in May 2023. 

The tech giant revealed in a blog post , that the new avatars for its video 
conferencing software will animate based on vocal cues and emoji reactions, 
meaning that the feature will work even for those who only have a headset 
instead of a webcam . 

Microsofts pitch for the feature is that appearing all day on camera can be 
exhausting, and that avatars offer an alternative to the current binary 
option of video or no video [...] while still allowing you to collaborate 
effectively. Avatars on Teams 

Thats kind of them, isnt it? We love choice - except no-one has especially 
screamed out for an alternative between having a camera on or off, and Im 
scratching my head as to why this actually exists. 

Its very clever, the way they pitch it. Represent yourself the way you want - 
with virtual bindis and hearing aids. Thats well intentioned, but doesnt stop 
me from thinking 'if I want to represent myself, I actually will, by going on 
video. 

But dont just take it from me, a journalist, when an actual human being 
below-the-line at The Verge has given their opinion: at my company, this is a 
feature that a total of zero employees would use. 

I dont have the energy to do the usual sustained yucks of this is 
embarrassing, or an affront to God, or whatever. The routine about it looking 
like an early-2002 social MMO. Read more 

> Microsoft Teams is going to use green screen technology to make your video 
calls better 

> Microsoft Teams is adding one of the worst Zoom features 

> We've also listed the best collaboration tools right now 

Or the bit about it being a tacit admission by big tech that the actual 
metaverse is an abstract, a nothing, and that it was always a buzzword and 
never going to happen. And that what were getting now is the dregs of the 
idea. 

If you want that, great: weve dutifully reported on this stuff over and over 
again , yet no-one in tech ever goes, actually, this is terrible, a callous 
regard for human life . Heres our list of the best project management 
software right now 

Via The Verge



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/news/this-could-be-the-most-pointless-microsoft-team
s-meeting-update-yet


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