We tried out Meta's new VR avatars, here's what we found
The new Meta Avatars are now available. We took a look at them using the editor.
Announced by Mark Zuckerberg two years ago, the new avatars have finally arrived and are available in Horizon Home, Horizon Worlds and Horizon Workrooms.
You can either update your existing avatars in VR by tapping the mirror in Horizon Home or edit your avatar in the Meta Horizon app on your smartphone. The system will automatically suggest a new avatar based on your previous choices.
I edited my digital alter ego in Horizon Home and experimented with the customization options. You can see a video of this below.
A step in the right direction
I hardly spent any time in the old avatar editor because I found the previous avatars too artificial. But with the new one, that might change, and I can see myself actively designing my avatar in my own image - or imagination.
The new avatars are still cartoonish, but they look more lifelike and mature. The biggest change is in the face, where the features are more pronounced and have more character and expression.
You can select predefined face shapes and fine-tune individual parameters such as jaw or chin size. The same goes for features like the nose and lips. You can even adjust the angle of the ears.
A lot of work has also been done on the body representation. You can look heavy or thin or a mixture of both by combining a slim physique with a paunch.
Size and age are not variable
According to Meta, size is not yet adjustable, and I found no way (except for subtle forehead wrinkles) to make my age recognizable. This means that Meta's new avatars all look equally tall and young. So they are by no means representative of all segments of the population.
There is a nice selection of clothing, and Meta says that next year you will be able to create your own outfits using generative AI. Fantasy avatars that do not take human form are also planned.
I still miss two cool features from the Facebook Spaces era: the option to automatically create a matching avatar based on a selfie, and the option to videocall my friends via Whatsapp or Messenger and appear as a fully animated Meta Avatar from VR.
By the way, it will be a while before the new avatars appear in third-party VR apps, as there is no automatic upgrade and the new avatar system has to be implemented manually in apps.
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