Key Takeaways:
- As part of the most recent layoffs, Microsoft closed its industrial metaverse division.
- The group was formed in October 2022 with the goal of creating software interfaces for managing transportation networks, power plants, and industrial robots.
Microsoft dissolves it’s Industrial Metaverse Core team putting an end to its four-month-old effort to promote the use of the metaverse in industrial settings.
According to The Information, the now-defunct “Industrial Metaverse Core” section let go of roughly 100 people. The layoffs happened last month as part of a larger scale scaling back of metaverse, virtual, and mixed reality projects.
Internally known as “Project Bonsai,” the Industrial Metaverse team concentrated on ways to integrate digital and artificial intelligence to enable humans to engage with and optimise physical items, assets, locations, processes, and equipment.
Employees who work on the company’s Xbox, Surface laptop, and HoloLens are included in the layoff unit.
Similarly , Meta has discontinued a few of its metaverse projects. Crayta, a business that Meta recently announced it would shut down, was acquired by the company less than two years ago. In addition, the business is phasing out Echo VR, a well-liked metaverse game within its Oculus ecosystem.
However, It is important to note that Coca-Cola and Mercedes-Benz were just two of Microsoft’s notable Industrial Metaverse clients.
“Microsoft is still dedicated to the commercial metaverse. Our customers won’t notice a difference in the level of service since we are applying our focus to the parts of the industrial metaverse that matter most to them. We anticipate providing more information in the future “Microsoft stated in a letter to CoinDesk with a statement.
Microsoft has pledged to continue several of its mixed reality products, such as Microsoft Mesh and the HoloLens 2 headset, according to Robin Seiler, who is in charge of the company’s mixed reality operations.
Microsoft has announced a startling layoff at a time when major tech companies like fidelity are rushing to expand in the metaverse domain. Governments all over the world have begun to embrace the metaverse and its revolutionary implications. China and South Korea recently announced plans in the Web3 space.
