AltspaceVR

{{Infobox software

| name = AltspaceVR

| title = AltspaceVR

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| developer = Microsoft

| released = May 2015; defunct as of March 10, 2023

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| operating system = Windows 10, Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality, HTC Vive, Mac OS Beta

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| genre = Virtual reality community

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| website = {{URL|http://altvr.com/}}

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File:Altspace-VR.webm

AltspaceVR was a social Virtual reality (VR) platform that was founded in 2013 by Eric Romo{{Cite news|last=Gaudioso|first=John|date=20 May 2015|title=This company created the first social platform for virtual reality|work=fortune.com|url=https://fortune.com/2015/05/20/altspacevr-social-vr/}} and launched its initial product in May 2015. In 2017 it was acquired by Microsoft{{Cite magazine|last=Eadicicco|first=Lisa|date=3 October 2017|title=Microsoft Just Bought a Virtual Reality Company to Challenge Facebook|magazine=Time|url=https://time.com/4967092/microsoft-altspacevr-virtual-reality/}} and became part of the Mixed Reality division (alongside notable products like HoloLens and HoloLens 2) within the Cloud and AI group. Some elements of the platform appear in Microsoft Mesh.{{cite web |title=Microsoft Mesh feels like the virtual future of Microsoft Teams meetings |url=https://www.theverge.com/22308883/microsoft-mesh-virtual-reality-augmented-reality-hololens-vr-headsets-features |website=The Verge|date=2 March 2021 }}

The platform largely consisted of user-generated spaces called "worlds", which could be visited by other users. Individuals could gather, talk, collaborate, and be co-present in small to large groups.

The platform was regularly home to a wide variety of live virtual events from VR church{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=April 2020|title=Religion in the Digital Age|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w27vq800|access-date=}} and LGBTQI+ meetups{{Cite web|title=AltspaceVR on Oculus Go|url=https://www.oculus.com/experiences/go/941480505944712/|access-date=2022-01-11|website=Oculus|language=en}} to large business conferences and magic shows.{{Cite news|last=Harry|first=Baker|date=August 25, 2020|title='Magicians In VR' Event In AltspaceVR Will Feature Talks And Live Magic|work=UploadVR|url=https://uploadvr.com/vr-magic-altspace/|access-date=}}

In January 2023 Microsoft announced on the AltspaceVR Homepage that the service would be shutting down on March 10, 2023.{{Cite web |title=AltspaceVR: Home |url=https://altvr.com/ |access-date=November 23, 2024 |website=AltspaceVR |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619080249/https://altvr.com/ |archivedate=June 19, 2023}}{{Cite web |last=AltspaceVR |first=Team |date=2023-01-20 |title=AltspaceVR to Sunset the Platform on March 10, 2023 |url=https://altvr.com/sunset/ |access-date=November 23, 2024 |website=AltspaceVR |language=en-US |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310100938/https://altvr.com/sunset/ |archive-date=March 10, 2023}}

Worlds

AltspaceVR was organised in spaces called "worlds", which could be found and accessed via a floating menu or via in-world "teleporters". Some large worlds, such as the "Campfire", were built and maintained by official developers as places for users to meet and interact. As of May 2022, AltVR removed all developer-maintained worlds.

Altspace's internal menus included a list of "featured" user-defined worlds and a real-time list of the most "popular" worlds, arranged by the number of users currently visiting each world. Other menus listed current and planned "events", which took place inside official or user-generated worlds.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

In 2020 AltspaceVR hosted BRCvr, a Burning Man event.{{Cite magazine|last=Peter|first=Rubin|date=September 9, 2020|title=Covid Snuffed Out Burning Man—but the Festival Goes On in VR|magazine=WIRED|url=https://www.wired.com/story/burning-man-in-virtual-reality/|access-date=}}

Supported hardware

AltspaceVR supported several VR headsets:

SteamVR devices (HTC Vive, Valve Index...)
Oculus Rift/Rift-S via Oculus Store
Oculus Quest/Quest 2 (as a standalone app, or via Oculus Link)
Windows Mixed Reality devices
Samsung Gear VR (discontinued mid-2020{{Cite web |last=AltspaceVR |date=2020-06-08 |title=AltspaceVR Plans to Sunset Support for GearVR - AltspaceVR - AltspaceVR Plans to Sunset Support for GearVR |url=http://altvr.com/altspacevr-plans-to-sunset-support-for-gearvr/ |url-status=dead |access-date=2021-10-05 |website=AltspaceVR |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005164110/https://altvr.com/altspacevr-plans-to-sunset-support-for-gearvr/ }})
Oculus Go (discontinued 2020{{Cite web|last=AltspaceVR|date=2020-11-02|title=Saying Farewell to the Oculus Go - AltspaceVR - Saying Farewell to the Oculus Go|url=http://altvr.com/saying-farewell-to-the-oculus-go/|access-date=2021-10-05|website=AltspaceVR|language=en-US}})
Google Daydream (discontinued 2019)

The platform was available as a traditional desktop application for Mac and Windows, and had a non-VR Android app until 2019.{{Cite web|title=r/AltspaceVR - Retiring Daydream and Google Play support|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/AltspaceVR/comments/bh1hg5/retiring_daydream_and_google_play_support/|access-date=2021-09-21|website=reddit|date=24 April 2019 |language=en-US}}