02 微软迈出办公元宇宙第一步

Microsoft has taken its first step towards bringing the metaverse to office life, in the latest sign that some of the biggest tech companies see the blending of the digital and physical worlds as one of the most important new trends in computing.

微软已迈出将元宇宙带入办公生活的第一步，这一最新迹象表明，一些大型科技公司将融合数字世界与现实世界视为计算领域最重要的新趋势之一。

The US software giant said that in the first half of next year, users of its Teams collaboration software would be able to appear as avatars—or animated cartoons—in video meetings. Remote workers will also be able to use their avatars to visit virtual work spaces, which would eventually include replicas of their employers’offices.

这家美国软件巨头表示，明年上半年，其Teams办公协作软件的用户将能够以卡通形象的虚拟化身出现在视频会议中。远程办公的员工还将能够用自己的虚拟化身访问虚拟工作空间，这些工作空间最终将包括跟真实的公司办公室一样的虚拟办公室。

Microsoft’s plan is based on underlying technology, known as Mesh, that it unveiled earlier this year to handle far more complex virtual interactions on different types of hardware, from PCs to virtual reality headsets.

微软的计划是基于一种被称为Mesh的底层技术，微软今年早些时候推出的这项技术，可以在从个人电脑到虚拟现实耳机等不同类型的硬件上处理复杂得多的虚拟互动。