I think that was rather uncalled for. My own use of avatars was a result of a lot of specific design decisions, around dissatisfaction with webcam video, i.e. the incongruity between the theoretical reason for why it's there ("to provide eye-contact!") and the reality that it fails at that task.
Good luck with your project.
For bigger events, there is an elevator, that takes you flying from room to room: https://twitter.com/NeeshStudio/status/1286010155772108802
Similarly in a remote coworking community I started in 2019, we have also settled on a culture of not worrying about “politeness” when it comes to coming and going. It is so much better.
Of course like you say, to have all of this work for people across the board is a much harder feat.
If anyone manages to actually crack that, either by simulation or some other method, they'll monumentally change telework.
This product looks very cool, it's a step in that direction.
Am I far off in thinking that the core challenge would be replicating the transition between sub-groups? That moment where you'd like to move on from a conversation and can gracefully step away without interrupting a conversation to announce your exit, walk through the room until you hear something interesting, sidle on up to another conversation without it feeling obtrusive, then join in.
I wonder if the abrupt nature of popping into someone's conversation with a new video-chat window would go against this. Either way, seems like an interesting puzzle to solve. Plus, the market is big, has a ton of attention right now, and any product has some inherent virality built in since some number of attendees will try it again afterwards. Very cool.