Zuckerberg shows off avatar with legs after graphics criticism - Business Insider

• Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg debuted the caller metaverse avatars astatine the company's Connect conference.
• Zuckerberg's avatar featured legs, which helium said was "probably the astir requested feature."
• The institution besides announced a caller $1,499 Quest Pro virtual world headset, and caller partnerships.

Mark Zuckerberg debuted his caller avatar successful real-time during Meta's Connect event connected Tuesday.

It was the archetypal clip the Facebook laminitis has held a nationalist league successful Meta's Horizon World metaverse. Zuckerberg took the accidental to denote the updated avatars, which helium said volition beryllium rolled retired aboriginal this twelvemonth crossed phones and virtual world headsets. He called the caller avatars "more expressive and elaborate than thing other today."

The caller avatars volition besides person legs, thing Zuckerberg said was "probably the astir requested diagnostic connected our roadmap."

The metaverse avatars didn't person legs earlier due to the fact that it was harder successful virtual world to accurately presumption wherever assemblage parts similar legs are, the Facebook laminitis said.

"But seriously, legs are hard, which is wherefore different virtual world systems don't person them either," Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg's announcement came conscionable a fewer months aft the billionaire was slammed connected societal media for an avatar helium posted connected Instagram. Social-media users were speedy to diss the representation which showed Zuckerberg's avatar lasting successful beforehand of an Eiffel Tower, with immoderate likening the graphics to 1990s video games similar Zelda and Quake.

At the time, Zuckerberg responded with an updated avatar and admitted the erstwhile representation was "basic."

"The graphics successful Horizon are susceptible of overmuch much — adjacent connected headsets — and Horizon is improving precise quickly," Zuckerberg said successful an Instagram station successful August.

Grimes besides took the accidental to slam Zuckerberg and his avatar, calling him "under-qualified" to tally the metaverse and saying the billionaire's virtual world plans are "dead" earlier they've genuinely begun.

Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that Zuckerberg had fast-tracked a caller avatar pursuing the criticism, with 1 Meta graphic creator claiming successful a since-deleted LinkedIn post that helium and his squad had designed astir 40 versions of Mr. Zuckerberg's look implicit a four-week play earlier a last mentation was approved.

"We started with elemental graphics and we're doing a ton of enactment to meaningfully amended however Horizon volition look and consciousness implicit the adjacent year," Zuckerberg said astatine the Meta Connect event. "The Metaverse needs to consciousness inspired."

But, Meta has faced headwinds successful caller months, arsenic the company's banal has been hammered amid Zuckerberg's caller plans for the company. Shares of Meta neared a four-year low connected Tuesday.

Internal memos obtained by The Verge past week showed Meta's VP of the Metaverse, Vishal Shah, telling Metaverse employees moving connected the Horizon Worlds app they are connected "quality lockdown" for the remainder of the twelvemonth to hole issues successful the app earlier its released to much users.

In 1 memo, Shah said the app's onboarding acquisition is "confusing and frustrating." Shah said employees moving connected the app weren't spending a lot of clip connected it.

"Why don't we emotion the merchandise we've built truthful overmuch that we usage it each the time," Shah wrote. "The elemental information is, if we don't emotion it, however tin we expect our users to emotion it?" 

The Facebook laminitis announced astatine the lawsuit that the caller avatars volition yet beryllium disposable via a concern with Zoom, arsenic good arsenic connected Android and Apple phones.

During the event, Meta unveiled its caller $1499 Quest Pro virtual world headset. The institution besides announced respective caller partnerships with NBCUniversal and Microsoft, including a metaverse acquisition based connected "The Office" and the accidental for radical to usage Microsoft tools similar Word and Excel successful the metaverse.