avatars Tag

While Meta has big dreams of a future Metaverse, where we all interact in fully digital environments, and where we can be and do anything in fully immersive worlds, there is a significant impediment to this process such as presently presents himself.

Can you guess what it is?

Apparently the metaverse is making legs obsolete. And while current avatars are also functional, in a basic sense, if Meta really wants to get people to engage with digital things, like clothing and other customization items, to make people more aligned with their virtual identity will require a better creative process, so you can build whatever representation you choose – right down to the laces of your virtual sneakers.

This is where this new development comes in.

As you can see in this new video, posted by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Meta is currently developing new technology that would enable the creation of more personalized digital recreations that simulate real human movement.

This could go a long way toward creating truly personalized and representative avatars, which Meta is also developing through its Avatar Codec technology.

As you can see from this example, which Meta shared last year, the ultimate goal is to allow users to create fully realistic versions of themselves for use in virtual worlds, which would include legs and a complete mapping of gestures.

If, of course, they choose. By the same process, you will also be able to change your appearance and change your digital identity according to your own expression. But the basic concept is that you’ll have nearly endless customization options, allowing you to conduct virtual activities with a fully formed representation of yourself, customized to your liking, and optionally outfitted with digital clothing, just like you. would buy clothes in a physical store.

This will open up a range of new opportunities for e-commerce, in terms of selling real items (because you can see what they look like before you buy) and digital items, which will be the expansion of the first NFT push .

Although there is a level of excitement about NFT profile pictures online, the real future of digital items is not in these cartoonish images, but rather in the virtual items, like digital clothing, that you you can buy and sell, and take with you to other items in the metaverse as you see fit.

Customizations like this have already proven popular in existing metaverse examples, with platforms like Roblox and Fortnite generating significant revenue from in-game customization options.

Users purchase the digital outfits, or “skins”, that they wish to use to represent themselves in these game worlds – but currently their use is limited to each individual property. The ultimate goal of the metaverse is to create a network of interoperable environments, where you can take these customizations with you – so if you choose to dress up as a banana character in Fortnite, then you can join a business meeting in the same character design.

These advanced Meta authoring tools are another step in that direction, and it’s interesting to consider the scope of possibilities they could facilitate in this regard, and where such developments will go over the next ten years.

What is the timeframe that Meta describes for its metaverse shift. While many are looking to jump in early and be in pole position for the next technological development, the reality is that these systems will take time to formulate and become more accessible to everyday users.

As a basic example – for an accurate avatar system to work and create a fully personalized 3D representation of you, you’ll need to scan yourself in a digital camera room, like the one in the meta video above .

This could possibly be another element of Meta’s retail stores, the first of which opened in California earlier this month.

It’s not there yet, but as Meta looks to expand its network of physical stores, it could also eventually add VR scanning booths where users can capture their virtual selves for these advanced avatars.

It’s still a long way off, but you can see where these developments are heading, which could have big implications, in a variety of ways.