Let’s see how Mibo works. How does it look like? In the free version, that everybody can use directly from their browser through an invitation link, you just appear magically on a tropical island - Alex describes. The structure is that you can walk around on the island and you can go swimming, you can play basketball, you can walk around freely unlike in a zoom meeting, and you yourself are basically a flying monitor with your head inside, it’s your webcam. Users are floating robots that wander around, with webcams as their heads. There are no breakout rooms, you can walk around and meet and interact with the people you want to meet. You hear their voices louder as you get closer to them. There is also a stage area, but that’s reserved for the paid version. The microphone allows to make announcements (and one wonders, karaoke sessions?).

The free version allows up to 5 people in a session simultaneously, a paid version allows up to 25 people connected, and opens the door to seven different worlds, settings like a mountain retreat, a winter wonderland, a town hall and a disco hall. The tropical island, zen garden and a studio are the only three available for free-to-use. There is a Mibo youtube channel where people can have a look at the different environments, and see how they work. A business version (definitely more pricey) allows up to 1000 participants and multiple rooms open at the same time. If your organization has access to funding, I still recommend it - says Alex.

What is Mibo recommend for? From large events to small meetings and meet-ups, just with your friends and colleagues that you can’t see in real life. For example Alex's organisation used it in their Europeers training course, where we had the reflection sessions, with 6 people sitting around the campfire, and you could hear sea waves crashing on the beach surf. I remember during the lockdown, not being able to go to these places, hearing this sounds had a nice calming effect. Each facilitator can create a room, generate a link and send it to their participants who can join.

What is Mibo not so good for? Larger groups will need the paid version. And one downside really is that it doesn’t work on Safari and has a bit of a technical requirement. If someone has a laptop without a graphic card, it cannot work so well. Mibo creates a 3D interactive environment, and so it needs fast processor and good graphic card. It also doesn’t work on mobile, so people cannot really access it from their phones.

Alex also uses Mibo to hang out with friends. But even with strangers, for example the time Alex shared with her group of Europeers. People were sharing stories about the day they just had together. And Alex loves the interactive and playful effects that guarantee a “wow effect” when she first introduces new people to the platform. For example as you enter the island, you can choose your hat (and yes, of course there is a pirate hat).

Mibo is really suitable for smaller groups, informal meetings, parties and social gatherings. But for conferences or corporate events, a user can personalize the space with their logo on the stage area, for example. So Alex recommends for example to have the more informative part of a conference on more traditional platforms like zoom, and then move for the more interactive ones on Mibo and explore different types of interaction. Be careful of technical barriers that can prevent people from participating, though. And when a user disconnects, even accidentally, they take off and fly away like little rockets making a “woooosh” sound. This can be distracting or even annoying especially if people experience connection issues and keep logging in and out of your session.