Fast Company has listed Spatial, a Media Lab spinoff co-founded by alum Jinha Lee, as one of the 10 most innovative companies in augmented and virtual reality for 2020. The company has been recognized for its work in bringing teams together virtually, especially during the Covid-19 era.

After the pandemic hit, people began focusing on ways to replace face-to-face collaborative work, a problem that Spatial has been working on for years. The company’s 3D collaboration space lets participants from around the building—or around the world—represent themselves in a virtual work space using an avatar. The face of the avatar is created from a picture of the user’s face. The experience allows teams—especially those that collaborate closely and visually on physical products from remote locations—to get their work done.