How Facebook VR Avatars Can Change the Way We Communicate

Facebook VR Avatars

Facebook VR Avatars: Just when you thought that Facebook became stagnant and couldn’t come up with anything new, once again, it staggers tech audiences with a new tech gimmick.

You may have heard about Mark Zuckerberg’s pet project called “Facebook Spaces”. It allows users to turn their profile photos into an animated avatar.

Then interact with others in a virtual world through a VR device like Oculus Rift or HTC VIVE. But this is now a thing of the past.

Forget about the cartoon-like avatars. Right now, the tech giant has been working on a revolutionary system that’ll allow users to “scan themselves” in 3D and replicate their actual appearance in the virtual world.

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So, imagine the avatar mimicking your and your friend’s facial expressions and behavioral mannerisms. Some call it creepy, and others call it groundbreaking.

Long ago, Zuckerberg said that Facebook is not a media company, but rather a tech company. It’s constantly pushing new projects forward and already invests heavily in AI.

Moreover, it has been working on a new system for data transfer, breaking records with a 36GB per second using the millimeter-wave (MMW), a new smart speaker and new ways to retarget consumers with ads.

3D Facebook VR Avatars

But the 3D Facebook VR avatars technology is something straight out of a science fiction movie. The system, developed in the Facebook Reality Labs in Pittsburgh, uses a clever way to capture the user’s movements and expressions.

To achieve a life-like virtual resemblance to actual people, they put them in a device endearingly called Mugsy.

In short, it’s a dome filled with 132 cameras and 350 lights, and over the hour. It can scan your physical movements to turn you into a 3D avatar.

The technology is still in its early stages of development, but it’s already making a splash in the digital world. Imagine how the way we communicate could change if we could all turn ourselves into perfect VR entities.

This technology may transform the world of business, allowing stakeholders to hold much more realistic meetings, making a regular Facebook business page an afterthought.

It could also affect the education industry and allow students to better interact with teachers across the globe. But by far, we can expect the biggest changes in how we communicate with friends and family on a day-to-day basis.

The VR device market grew by 8.2 percent in 2018, and it should follow the same trajectory in 2019.

Soon everyone will have VR goggles sitting on their desk. You can bet that companies like Facebook will capitalize on this big time.