VR nerds may be familiar with some of these five applications. For starters, there’s Vive Sync which is HTC’s in-house remote collaboration service, and it’s currently still in open beta. Then you have Vive Sessions, which is essentially the integration of Immersive VR Education’s Engage virtual conference platform (as used by HTC today and back in March), and this lets you host up to 50 people per virtual location. Going further up the scale, there’s Vive Campus which will be powered by VirBELA, and this enables remote learning for up to a whopping 2,500 people on a virtual campus. Of course, there’s no stopping you from taking a quick break with fellow students by a virtual fountain.

Vive XR Suite isn’t all about work, either. To catch up with friends, you can tap into Vive Social which will be based on the popular social VR platform, VRChat. If you feel like getting up close to virtual art exhibits or VR videos, there’s also Vive Museum which will be run by Museum of Other Realities. But that’s as far as fun goes; you’ll need to go back to Viveport or Steam for your dose of VR gaming.

Given how the look and feel of these partner apps differ vastly from one another, it’ll be interesting to see how well HTC can integrate them into the suite, and how much flexibility will users have when it comes to hosting virtual locations in each app. Alvin Wang Graylin, HTC’s China President, admitted that it’s still early stage, but the goal is to eventually offer a consistent experience across all five apps. Until then, it’s hard to assess HTC’s foray into the cloud software business. Maybe partnering with the leaders in each of those VR sectors will be easier than building everything from ground up like Peter Chou’s XRSpace is doing, but it’s the end result that matters. We shall see.

HTC

Casual users who only need basic features will be able to grab a free version of Vive XR Suite from various VR and non-VR app stores (you may also find this suite pre-installed on an HP business PC or laptop in the future), whereas commercial users can subscribe to Vive XR Suite Pro on Viveport — pricing to be announced later — for the creator-level capabilities. The service will be launching in China first in Q3 2020, with other regions to follow afterwards, though beta versions of each app will be available ahead of time as well.

It’s not completely surprising that Twitter would do this, and not just due to the relatively flexible nature of developing an internet-based service. Physical presences can be expensive between basic office space, amenities, relocations and travel costs. This could save money in the long run as Twitter only needs to accommodate those workers who need or want to come in.

To some extent, this also acknowledges that the pandemic may transform attitudes toward working from home. While companies have long insisted that people come in for the sake of collaboration and in-person interaction, some may decide that it’s simply not necessary or even thrive by staying put. Remote work avoids lengthy commutes and office drama while allowing more time with family — some of Twitter’s employees may be reluctant to give that up no matter how safe it is outside.

First up, real-time noise suppression. If you’ve ever been in a remote meeting where someone is typing loudly on their keyboard or has the radio playing nearby, you’ll know how distracting these background sounds can be. This feature minimizes these unwanted noises, allowing users to hear what’s being said.

Then there’s the Raise Hand feature. In remote meetings with a lot of participants — or particularly chatty individuals — it can be hard to make your voice heard. Tapping the Raise Hand icon sends a visual signal to everyone in the meeting that you’ve got something to say.

Other new features include pop-out chats, to help you jump more easily between conversations, and a booking app, which will make it easier to schedule and conduct virtual appointments. There’s also support for offline and low-bandwidth use, so you’ll be able to read chat messages and compose replies even if you’re offline.

Finally, there are some device-orientated developments. A new integration between Teams and RealWear head-mounted devices means that industrial workers will be able to use Teams to access information and communicate hands-free with remote colleagues from their job site. New devices certified for teams are also on the cards. The Yealink VC210 is available now, while Bose nose cancelling headphones 700 UC will be on sale in late spring.

These new features are available now, and given the current global health crisis they could not have come at a better time — something Microsoft is well aware of having made Teams available for free to the UK’s NHS workers during the coronavirus outbreak. In just a week, the company has seen Teams grow from 32 million to 44 million daily users around the world — with more set to join the platform as more countries confirm their own isolation strategies.

Slack has also made some fortuitously-timed changes to its collaboration platform. Remote working has taken on an unprecedented focus in recent times, and providers are well-positioned to help people and companies around the world work together despite global uncertainty.