The highly anticipated Meta Avatars system is set to debut on Tuesday.
Meta’s avatars are deployed across their own platforms – Horizon House, Horizon Worlds, and Horizon Workrooms – as well as in third-party virtual reality (VR) and mixed-reality applications that utilize the Meta Avatars Software Development Kit (SDK), including GOLF+ and Eleven Table Tennis.
A major graphics revamp was initially showcased through a pre-rendered prototype by Mark Zuckerberg at Meta Connect 2022, two years ago. Although the executive initially predicted a 2023 rollout for the overhaul, this forecast unfortunately proved inaccurate.
According to Meta, the novel avatars will introduce “innovative means for users to customize various aspects, including physical attributes, such as body proportions, facial features like eye size and nose shape, as well as movement and expression”.
Meta claims its freshly released SDK offers “a more precise avatar skeleton” allowing developers to “precisely control how avatars move and categorize” with greater detail.
In the next 12 months, Meta plans to empower users to create a unique outfit simply by typing, utilizing its advanced generative AI capabilities.
In Horizon Worlds, Meta claims that its technology can further assist “fantastical avatars,” including non-human species that users can unlock within specific virtual environments.
The newly launched Meta Avatar models for Quest 3 and Quest 3S will utilize the inside-out high-polymer tracking capability of these headsets, whereas earlier models will employ inverse kinematics estimation to simulate human-like movement. On all supported Meta headsets, avatars will feature AI-generated, dynamic leg movements that simulate a natural decrease in physical activity.
