Finally, Meta avatars have legs (in beta)

Meta’s greatest innovation since the News Feed—legs—is ready for beta testing. Meta Quest headsets can now download an update that lets you walk on two feet like Ardipithecus ramidus, an early hominid that achieved bipedality 4.4 million years ago. Now it’s complete.

Meta launched its virtual reality social products with disembodied torso avatars. Finally, our digital likenesses can stand tall. Users report only legs in Horizon Home, where you first turn on your headset.

The new Leg IK for Meta is a good start. They kept their opinion that you should only see them as a third person view

The lack of crouching is probably the most glaring issue of it so far. But progress 🤷 pic.twitter.com/0s5jmIvuvW

— Brad Lynch (@SadlyItsBradley) August 29, 2023

Hand tracking is supported by Quest headsets, allowing players to forego traditional controllers in favor of their own hands. Because of this, it’s more challenging to design leg-equipped avatars that look and move convincingly natural. According to the beta testers, the visual is less jarring because you can only see legs in the third person and not the first.s

In October of last year, Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Meta was developing walking capabilities. Hopefully this will be implemented in time for September’s Meta Connect event.