Whether you’re putting together a small get-together or an arena-scale event, AltspaceVR is here to help.
AltspaceVR, the last bastion of hope for users seeking to avoid the sheer chaos of VRChat or Rec Room, is stepping up its event hosting services in the hopes of becoming the premier destination for live shows, classes, panel discussions, and meetups in VR.
In an official release sent out yesterday, Microsoft revealed a slew of new features and improvements heading to the social platform that will allow users to more easily create, share, and host their own live events, whether it be a small get-together with a handful of friends or an arena-scale festival open to users around the globe. The holiday update introduced a new user interface that offers a variety of prebuilt event templates designed for everything including ad-hoc AMAs, political discussions, community meetups, and nine other additional formats.
This revamped UI also includes revisions to the event discovery system, making it easier for users to find new events they may not have come across otherwise. Advertising your live happening is as simple as sharing a post to the AltspaceVR event page; Altspace breaks down their catalog of user-made events into categories, allowing users to more easily navigate the vast quantity of posts. These categories include Gaming, Meetups, Performances, Presentations, Talk Shows, and Watch-Parties.
With the sales of VR headsets skyrocketing this holiday season (the 128GB Oculus Quest is currently selling for $1,000 through third-party sellers via Amazon), Microsoft has prepared for the potential influx of new players, they’ve set up a dedicated welcome space within AltspaceVR designed to assist those new to VR. Similar to past AltspaceVR-sponsored events, this welcome space will be inhabited by both AltspaceVR team members and volunteers who can help answer any questions a user may have.
“AltspaceVR is a place to share ideas together instead of sharing a post; give a thumbs up instead of clicking a thumbs up; make friends instead of adding to a friend’s list; build on an idea in person instead of retweeting,” states Katie Kelly, Program Owner of AltspaceVR, in an official release. “Events are AltspaceVR’s answer to posts and tweets. Events are our containers for ideas, entertainment, and creativity. Events bring people together using the power and presence of VR.”
As part of their new focus on user-made events, AltspaceVR will be hosting a “Daily Spotlight Event” every night at 7pm PST/10pm EST featuring an alternating lineup of community events to discover.
This Winter Spotlight Series features the Rooftop Talk Show, an immersive technology-themed talk show covering everything from upcoming events within the metaverse, to discussions with prominent developers and influencers; Acoustic Music with Luke, a live jam session with one of AltspaceVR’s musically-talented community members; and Open Mic Night hosted by Meeka, an open invitation to perform anything from standup comedy to spoken word poetry.
There’s also Tech Tock, a weekly talk show hosted by our own Jesse Damiani covering the latest in cutting-edge technology and its continued impact on society. Troy and Matt’s Late Night Barbecue Party, a laidback virtual hang-sesh where you can grab a beer with some friends and play a handful of relaxing games; Rated VR with comedian, Chris Ettrick, a late-night talk show in which Ettrick and his guests “navigate their way through sex, love and of course, tequila,”; and Live Music with Mckmuze, a night of music with a VR musician known for unique blend of acoustic rock and live looping.
Troy and Matt’s Late Night Barbecue Party, a laidback virtual hang-sesh where you can grab a beer with some friends and play a handful of relaxing games; Rated VR with comedian, Chris Ettrick, a late-night talk show in which Ettrick and his guests “navigate their way through sex, love and of course, tequila,”; and Live Music with Mckmuze, a night of music with a VR musician known for unique blend of acoustic rock and live looping.
As previously stated, AltspaceVR hopes to serve as the primary destination for both smaller, intimate get-togethers, as well as arena-scale events. To support this vast number of users while still remaining accessible on as many devices as possible, Microsoft has used the update to once again launch FrontRow, allowing even those operating on mobile-VR headsets the opportunity to participate in live events populated by a nearly unlimited number of attendees.
For even more information on these recent changes, Alex Kipman–Head of Mixed Reality at Microsoft–and Katie Kelly–Program Owner at AltspaceVR–will be breaking down all these new exciting features during a live spotlight event going down on AltspaceVR tonight from 6pm to 7pm PST. Visit here to RSVP.
When the concept behind a VR metaverse was first introduced, many imagined a sprawling virtual environment populated by millions of unique avatars controlled by human users from around the globe. Cut to 2019, and what we have is more of a collection of unsupervised digital daycares and meme-filled nightclubs littered with scantily-clad anime characters and foul-mouthed pigeons with an extremely loose grasp of English vocabulary. AltspaceVR is one of the last bastions of hope for adult users looking to engage in more structured, mature conversations and interactions.
By leaning more heavily into user-created events, the budding social platform can set itself apart even further from other platforms like Rec Room and VRChat. I’m also excited to see the AltspaceVR continuing to plant real-life team members within the experience in order to assist users. Microsoft could have easily introduced an automated tutorial bot to handle any questions or concerns; instead, they take the time and resources to fill their servers with real guides, adding a certain sense of community that’s difficult to achieve in over social experiences.
Feature Image Credit: AltspaceVR, Microsoft
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