Indeed, I've run some (decently sized) trials with Spatial and Arthur at my workplace (They're third party VR meeting programs) and I've been really impressed.
Yes, the characters are cartoony, though they both have a way to make a pretty decent avatar from a mugshot (not cartoony - it's photobased but pretty lowres, pretty nice though considered it's based on only 1 photo).
But having an actual meeting in VR the cartoonism fades away quickly as you start actually collaborating. Being able to see people move and point helps a lot, and if you're speaking about manufactured products you can show them in 3D, move them around etc.
After 2 hours taking the headset off it feels weird suddenly finding myself at home. It really feels like I was somewhere else with others. This feeling is hard to convey to someone who has never tried it. All they see is a picture with some cartoony characters.
I really think this tech will be instrumental in improving interaction in online meetings, and also reducing reliance on intercontinental travel for real meetings (which really needs to happen for climate reasons). It doesn't feel as exhausting as a Teams meeting where you just have a mosaic of bored faces that nobody actually looks at.
And that's with the tech in this state of infancy. It's pretty promising already as it is. I'm not surprised Meta but also Microsoft are betting on this.
