IT Blog

Spatial and Nreal, two augmented reality startups, are joining forces to create better virtual workspaces. The two hope the combination of Nreal’s lightweight AR glasses and Spatial’s virtual workspace software will attract more users among businesses that stand to save money by conducting some face-to-face meetings in virtual form.

I got to know Spatial when when some of its people were preparing for a demo on stage at Microsoft’s Build conference last year. The company’s 3D workspaces can be created within Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed-reality headset. In a work context, augmented or mixed reality lets you see digital work assets superimposed or positioned within the real world. At Build, Spatial created a workspace in which several people collaborated on building a toy robot.

Nreal’s hardware adds a new element of mobility to the workspace experience. The Nreal AR glasses are far slimmer than the HoloLens, and the displays in the lenses are surprisingly good. The…