Legs are coming to Zuckerberg’s metaverse

By Nathan Drescher October 11, 2022

Mark Zuckerberg announced at Meta Connect 2022 that avatars will soon include legs in Horizon Worlds, using the built-in Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro tracking technology. Meta will also include more tools for developers to tie into headset tracking so they, too, can include legs.

“Avatars will be central to how we express ourselves in the future.” Zuckerberg said during the Meta Connect event. Admittedly, the current floating torsos of Horizon Worlds are a little off-putting, so it will be nice to see people with legs.

image: Meta / Meta

The problem thus far as been what Zuckerberg described as occlusion — the inability of the sensors to see your legs when you’re sitting. The AI wasn’t able to guess how your legs looked and Meta felt it was more unsettling to see strange, unnatural legs than no legs at all. Now they’ve tweaked AI somehow and legs are coming.

Recommended Videos

Zuckerberg showed off his own avatar, complete with legs clad in jeans. They moved as smoothly as his avatar’s arms so it seems the tech is ready.

The announcement came just after Zuckerberg announced a new avatar store, so you can buy clothing and accessories for your avatar. The screenshots included jeans, skirts, shoes, and some mobility aids such as wheelchairs.

It’s unclear when legs will become available for Horizon Worlds avatars, but we’re hoping soon!

Topics

Nathan Drescher

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Nathan Drescher is a freelance journalist and writer from Ottawa, Canada. He's been writing about technology from around the…

Computing

Meta just created a Snoop Dogg AI for your text RPGs

Meta AI's Dungeon Master looks like Snoop Dogg.

Meta Connect started with the Quest 3 announcement but that’s not the only big news. The metaverse company is also a leader in AI and has released several valuable models to the open-source community. Today, Meta announced its generative AI is coming soon to its social media apps, and it looks both fun and useful.
Meta AI for text
When CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta AI for social media, it seemed interesting. When one of the custom AIs looked like Snoop Dogg wearing Dungeons and Dragons gear, there was a gasp from the live audience, followed by whoops of joy and applause.

Meta AI's Dungeon Master looks like Snoop Dogg. Meta

Computing

Meta boss Zuckerberg says new team is building ‘AI personas’

mark zuckerberg speaking

With the tech industry increasingly focusing on generative AI products following the whirlwind of interest in OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, Meta is keen to ensure that everyone knows that it too is taking a keen interest in the space.

In an online post on Monday, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg said the company is bringing together its current AI teams to create a single group in a move designed to “turbocharge our work in this area.”

Computing

Big Tech’s vision for the metaverse is weak. Here’s what it needs

Despite the fact that Silicon Valley has burned billions of dollars on the metaverse, current incarnations of the idea remain largely unappealing to the general public – and it’s easy to see why. Between Meta’s lackluster vision for VR meetings and Decentraland’s uncomfortably empty digital cities, the metaverse doesn’t really have much to offer right now.

But just because Big Tech's metaverse vision is falling flat doesn't mean that it can't be improved. So in the spirit of offering constructive criticism, we asked DT staffers what they want to see in the metaverse. What features, elements, or ideals are missing from the metaverse as it exists today? Here’s what DT’s Editorial team thinks:
A genuinely interconnected space
What makes the metaverse such a compelling promise on paper is the idea of an interconnected digital space. In a best-case scenario, it functions like a 3D version of the internet where you can seamlessly browse between different spaces and experiences. However, that idea has yet to tangibly appear in any current corporate vision of the tech. Meta’s metaverse has largely been presented as a walled garden that doesn’t interact with much outside of Meta-created worlds. You can’t take your Meta avatar and waltz into Roblox or VR Chat currently.