Hologram meetings are coming

Hey all, it’s Brody Ford in New York. I tried out augmented reality meetings. But first…Today’s must-reads:• Microsoft’s planned $69 billion [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hey all, it’s Brody Ford in New York. I tried out augmented reality meetings. But first… Today’s must-reads: • Microsoft’s planned $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition is facing a [UK antitrust probe]( • Crypto.com [mistakenly transferred $7 million]( to a woman who was owed a $70 refund • New York’s Uber and Lyft drivers are having [trouble finding a charge]( for their EVs “I think your hologram is muted” It’s been a decade since [holographic Tupac]( graced the stage of Coachella. And despite the hype it generated, the technology still hasn’t found many successful applications beyond these kinds of concert gimmicks—like the giant twerking hologram at the Video Music Awards earlier this week. Small startups and tech giants alike have long been working on three-dimensional video chat and holograms—or projections that [look like them](—a concept that holds real promise for our new remote work era. But so far, promises that seamless 3-D video conferencing is right around the corner have been premature. This time, things are different—at least according to Cisco Systems Inc. The networking-gear maker says the necessary tech underpinnings are finally in place to make holographic communication practical and useful in the near term. Today’s headsets have sufficient processing power and networks now are low latency and provide enough bandwidth. So, eager to see for ourselves, Bloomberg reporter Ian King and I got loaner headsets from Cisco and tried out the Webex Hologram chat. I strapped on the goggles at home, and before I knew it, an engineer was beamed into my bedroom. It was so convincing that I felt awkward about the pile of clothes in my room that he was hovering over. The apparition was only visible to me—displayed across the lenses of the augmented reality goggles I was wearing. Interaction was seamless, save for the lengthy setup process, but a bit disorienting. I felt the need to nod excessively to appear attentive. The call was at its most impressive when we were able to pass 3-D objects back and forth using hand motions—we looked at car models and room designs. It felt more true to life than looking at renderings on a computer screen. Early adopters have been using hologram chats for applications like design review and medical device training for more than a year, said Elizabeth Bieniek, co-founder of Webex Hologram. One customer is the McLaren Formula One racing team. My colleague Ian wasn’t as wowed by the experience. He’s goggled into immersive virtual world a number of times over the years, in various demos from large companies. And he has yet to be convinced that the technology is anywhere near ready for mass adoption. One major barrier to mainstream AR—acknowledged by Cisco’s security and collaboration executive, Jeetu Patel—is that the headsets and set-up are too cumbersome. To reach a much larger audience, the goggles will have to come down in size to something like prescription eye ware, Patel said. Plus, users currently have to be surrounded by a multiple-camera setup to be displayed in 3-D. For now, Bieniek said Cisco is targeting applications like design and training as two areas where the set-up hassles will be worth it for the productivity gains from AR. And soon, headset improvements will become more manageable, the executives believe. Cisco isn’t alone in betting on hologram collaboration. [Microsoft Corp.](bbg://securities/MSFT%20US%20Equity), which manufactures the Hololens 2 headset we were using, has promoted [its own virtual collaboration service](. Google is prototyping 3-D video chat meant to look like a [pane of glass]( using similar technology. And [Proto Hologram]( is a startup that has done [splashy demos]( with celebrities like [Ellen DeGeneres](bbg://people/profile/1785979). But as more workers complain about Zoom fatigue, some companies are designing less-demanding interaction solutions. Salesforce Inc.’s Slack is pushing [spontaneous chats]( rather than the standard 30-minute meeting. One piece of research from the American Psychological Association even showed that too many on-camera calls can leave us feeling [drained and unproductive](. And more people have been extolling the benefits of [in-person contact]( and cutting down [on meetings]( altogether. For us, logging onto Cisco’s virtual world of digital professionalism did feel a little magical. But it also felt like, well, work. —[Brody Ford](mailto:bford61@bloomberg.net) with [Ian King](mailto:ianking@bloomberg.net) The big story Twitter is launching an edit button. For the first time, after years of internal (and external) debate over the feature, the [ability to edit tweets will soon be available]( to users who pay $4.99 per month for a subscription to Twitter Blue. Edit Tweet, as the feature will be called, will let users make changes to their tweet for up to 30 minutes after it’s originally published. What else you need to know Broadcom, a chipmaker that supplies some of the largest companies in tech, [gave a strong sales forecast](—allaying fears that spending on internet infrastructure is slowing. Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius is seeking to [return $50 million]( of locked crypto. In a major setback for Amazon’s effort to overturn a [Staten Island union election](, a US labor board official recommended the vote be upheld. YouTube said that it will add contextual information underneath [election-related videos and in search results]( for the US midterms in the coming weeks. “I got a lot of text messages from my VC friends while vacationing in Italy.” A venture capitalist talks to Bloomberg TV about [the slow summer of 2022](, and what to expect in the fall. Join Bloomberg Live in London for the [Bloomberg Technology Summit]( on Sept. 28 to see Europe’s business leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs and investors explain how they’re adapting to this new environment—and discuss solution-based strategies. Programming note: Fully Charged will be off on Monday for a long weekend. See you on Tuesday! Follow Us More from Bloomberg Dig gadgets or video games? [Sign up for Power On]( to get Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more in your inbox on Sundays. 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