Khaleejtimes: The company introduced a new use for its HoloLens 2 device that utilises advanced Metaverse technologies to create a unique experience for tourists, allowing visitors to experience attractions virtually

Microsoft brought a taste of what the future of mixed reality will look like to Gitex Global 2022 on Monday, as the region’s premier technology exhibition got underway at Dubai World Trade Centre. The company’s attendance at Gitex 2022 occurs in the third-anniversary year of its UAE cloud data centres, which continue to empower organisations on their digitisation journeys.

During the event, under the theme ‘Believe the hype, it’s real. Enter the next Digital Universe’ Microsoft’s Gitex 2022 hub, featuring 26 of Microsoft’s partners, and exhibits at DevSlam and X-Verse jointly showcase the latest initiatives and products, with industry solutions for fintech, retail, education, cybersecurity, smart cities, and energy and utilities.

 
For its flagship showcase, Microsoft has partnered with Kagool to introduce a new use for its HoloLens 2 device, that utilises advanced Metaverse technologies to create a unique experience for tourists, allowing visitors to experience Dubai attractions virtually using Microsoft AI capabilities.

 
Naim Yazbeck, General Manager (GM), Microsoft UAE, told Khaleej Times, “We believe a metaverse is enabled by a set of technologies that allows for persistent, digital representations connected to aspects of the real world. Today we see early stages of the metaverse in scenarios such as individual mixed reality experiences, collaborative experiences, digital twins and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled edge computing, and immersive gaming experiences.

We have long been building towards the metaverse through our work on the Microsoft Cloud to enable the bridge between the physical and digital worlds – from investing in IoT and digital twin solutions at scale to broad AI deployments, the future of meetings with Teams and our work with Mesh and HoloLens 2 in mixed reality. This isn’t a short-term investment; this is bringing the full power of our work across several areas to enable the future of computing in the metaverse for businesses and consumers.

We enter Gitex 2022 fresh from the anniversary celebration of the launch of our cloud data centres, which have empowered enterprises across the UAE to think big to deliver on their ambitions. Our cloud ecosystem is creating jobs, accelerating innovation and entrepreneurship, and stimulating economic growth across the country and the broader Middle East, and we pledge our continued support to work with public and private entities to accelerate this further across the region.”

Throughout the exhibition, the company will also share its thoughts on Web 3.0 and the role of metaverse technologies, including the recently launched HoloLens 2 device, Mesh and Teams, which will play in the future of hybrid work. Microsoft will also take a deep dive into cybersecurity and what it means in the multi-cloud era, covering the latest developments in the threat landscape and the implications of the multi-cloud reality for issues such as identity and data protection.