Meta Avatars Finally Sprout Some Legs
It's been nearly a year since Meta announced at Connect 2022 that it would be giving its bizarre metaverse avatars Caspar, the Friendly Ghost, some legs to make them look slightly more human. Judgment Day is almost upon us as Quest Home avatars now sport additional limbs in the latest Quest software beta.
You won't see any legs on your avatar when you look down, as UploadVR points out. They will only be visible in third person or when looking at a virtual mirror (much like in many first person shooters). This makes sense, as there is no leg tracking option on any current consumer VR system. This means that Meta doesn't have to worry too much about having accurate leg animations instead of, I don't know, wacky QWOP style physics?
Additionally, it appears that your avatar's legs do not crouch in third person view when bending your knees or sitting down. This might make things a bit awkward when trying to maintain eye contact (as much as possible in VR spaces) with another user.
The legs aren't in the VR version of Horizon Worlds yet, but you should see them in the mobile and web versions if you're one of the people testing them. Oddly enough, Meta said last year that “legs will go to Worlds first” before heading to other avatar-friendly experiences. UploadVR also notes that Meta has yet to publicly update its avatar SDK, so external developers using that toolset can't mess with the legs just yet. in the company's virtual spaces.
All of this could come to a head next month at this year's Meta Connect. Perhaps the company will then have more to say about its virtual legs. One thing we know for sure about the event is that Meta will reveal a lot more about Quest 3.
It's been nearly a year since Meta announced at Connect 2022 that it would be giving its bizarre metaverse avatars Caspar, the Friendly Ghost, some legs to make them look slightly more human. Judgment Day is almost upon us as Quest Home avatars now sport additional limbs in the latest Quest software beta.
You won't see any legs on your avatar when you look down, as UploadVR points out. They will only be visible in third person or when looking at a virtual mirror (much like in many first person shooters). This makes sense, as there is no leg tracking option on any current consumer VR system. This means that Meta doesn't have to worry too much about having accurate leg animations instead of, I don't know, wacky QWOP style physics?
Additionally, it appears that your avatar's legs do not crouch in third person view when bending your knees or sitting down. This might make things a bit awkward when trying to maintain eye contact (as much as possible in VR spaces) with another user.
The legs aren't in the VR version of Horizon Worlds yet, but you should see them in the mobile and web versions if you're one of the people testing them. Oddly enough, Meta said last year that “legs will go to Worlds first” before heading to other avatar-friendly experiences. UploadVR also notes that Meta has yet to publicly update its avatar SDK, so external developers using that toolset can't mess with the legs just yet. in the company's virtual spaces.
All of this could come to a head next month at this year's Meta Connect. Perhaps the company will then have more to say about its virtual legs. One thing we know for sure about the event is that Meta will reveal a lot more about Quest 3.
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