Facebook Spaces, the company’s social VR application which launched in beta one year ago, is getting an entirely new avatar system and customization tool, something Facebook says in a recent blog post was designed to make avatars “more expressive and customizable than ever.”

The new avatar system, which includes “hundreds of new options” will feature new head shapes, hairstyles, facial features, and the ability to choose your body type. The update will also come with new controls to adjust the size, position and angle of your avatar’s features, as well as an overhaul to the automatic avatar creator which runs your photos through a machine learning algorithm to extrapolate an avatar.

The company says the update will arrive sometime this week. Check out a preview of Facebook Spaces’ new avatars below:

 

“Bringing together artists and engineers from across our team, we drew on techniques from film animation, graphics, game character design, and mathematics to create a whole new, re-vamped version of avatars for Spaces,” the company said.

“We’ve worked on making avatars feel more present in the VR space with richer materials, better lighting and shadows. We’ve also fine-tuned the tech under the hood to make avatar body movements look more fluid and natural,” Facebook Spaces creators continued.

an evolution of ‘Spaces’ avatars, image courtesy Facebook

Released in beta last year on Rift, the app essentially lets you connect with friends and family in a private multiuser environment where you can communally watch 360 videos, draw in the air, and play mini-games. You can also interact directly via Facebook by posting VR selfies to your Timeline, engage in a Messenger video chat with anyone regardless of whether they’re inside VR or not, and even livestream your in-app exploits directly to Facebook Live.

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Facebook Spaces has since updated to include support for HTC Vive, which includes cross-platform access. Facebook’s head of social VR Rachel Rubin Franklin said late last year that Vive support is “only the beginning: We’re working to bring Facebook Spaces to even more VR platforms and devices in the future, so stay tuned.”

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • gothicvillas

    Still boring af. make Avatars to look like us!!

  • Iain Swales

    lol, that beard on the image. blob of peanut butter!

  • Firestorm185

    If only it was easier to log in to. Having to take the headset off every time to log in with the keyboard is really annoying. Love those avatars though, they look great!

    • Ellie 187

      agreed… I would be more willing to use spaces more often when two conditions are met

      1. Stop making me enter my code from my phone app, and/or save my credentials with the software so i can just click and play
      2. Spaces being made for as many platforms as possible, because at the moment, only two people on my friends list have spaces, while i know several people with PSVR/GearVR that would most likely use it as well.. cross platform with my Vive would be fantastic.

  • Lucio Lima

    Too childish!
    Demasiado infantil e estou farto dessa bonecada ridícula!

  • Alfredo Villar

    I do not recommend buying anything in this company anymore.I bought the new rift oculus from your website two weeks ago and they came with white spots on the screen and the solution they give me is to buy new ones. They have the worst technical support I ever seen https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b9ae5d03066f906ae20db24e9e25cd658170502ff07ac9fc93783158e71634cd.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/589cfe7b578fa94dfac45432c4dc96eb88c0449c8e9ba2257698574b075ca921.jpg