Introduction to 3D Avatars
Every 3D game where you need to interact with others requires you to have an avatar. This avatar is your representation in the virtual world and is a very important aspect of you and your interaction with others. In this article, I will explain in detail 3D avatars.
A Representation of the user
An avatar is the graphical representation of someone that is visible to others but also potentially to oneself. As stated in Wikipedia, it can be a 2D image like a profile picture or a more complex 3D representation.
There are varying degrees of representation of an avatar. The first one is the partial or full-body representation:
- Upper Body: in this instance, avatars are only representing the upper body of the user. The bottom part, mostly the legs are absent. This is a simplification that often avoids having to animate the avatar. Also, in a VR environment, only the head and hands are tracked. As the feet are not tracked, this might explain why we avoid having the lower body.
- Full-Body: as the name implies, the avatar is fully represented from top to bottom having the feet firmly planted onto the floor.
The visual aspect of the avatar is also a key differentiator. The avatar can be cartoon-like represented or mimic closely a real human:
- Cartoon-like/Fantasy/Stylized avatar: this is a simplified representation of a human. The idea is not to get close to a human representation but instead to embody what the user wants to convey (e.g. aggressive, sexy, provocative, friendly, etc.).
- Realistic: a realistic avatar will have the same physical shape as a human. The rendered avatar will try to show as many details as possible such as realistic clothes, realistic face, and other characteristics that makes others believe they are talking to a real person.
- When I say realistic, I don’t especially mean looking like a modern man. It could mean looking like a medieval avatar standing on a horse or a futuristic human but with a lot of details
- NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are going to play a very important role here. As humans, we want to be unique and we do so by wearing clothes that represent us (avant-garde, classic, cyberpunk, …). We want our avatar to also show those characteristics so users will not hesitate to purchase NFTs to differentiate themselves in the metaverse.
Features of an avatar
Realism is probably the most sought feature when designing an avatar and immersing in a virtual environment. Those are some of the features that help give a more realistic look:
- Eye blinking: avatar eyes are animated to behave like a human
- Lip-sync: synchronizing the movement of the avatar’s mouth to the user’s speech
- Facial expressions: tracking the eye movements, and other facial expressions (smiling, frowning, etc.)
- Body animation: when the user moves, we can animate the avatar to simulate walking or move the arms based on the tracking devices feedback
- Inclusion: fit the avatar with cochlear implants, hearing aids, and wheelchairs to represent a disabled user (Meta has enabled such artefacts in their latest avatar module).
Some of those features are easy to achieve through software such as lip-sync (the voice is translated into facial movements based on the sounds produced).
Some can be simulated. Eye blinking can be done automatically at an interval of a few seconds. Even though it is completely programmed, it creates an illusion of realism.
Some require hardware to be achieved. Tracking the eye movement require the VR headset to be fitted with a laser eye tracker.
Available Software
Today, the market is crowded with many startups looking for a slice of the market. We, at Recognition Media, use the following two solutions with our Go Clubbing VR app:
- Ready Player Me: they use a photo to create a more realistic face. They can create a full-body or upper body avatar. They have a wardrobe where you can customize your avatar. Their strong point is portability across systems.
- Union Linking Realities: create realistic full-body avatars also based on a photograph. They also provide cross-platform support.
Some metaverses have their own avatar creation tools such as:
- Spatial
- Avakin Life from Lockwood Publishing:
Conclusion
An avatar is a representation of the user in the virtual world. It can be a simplified representation of a user, a la Minecraft, or strives to be a very realistic representation of a real human.
It can be a clone/mirror of the real user, or it can represent an idealized representation of the user’s desires: if you are a male, nothing prevents you from having a female avatar!
Avatars are still in their infancy, but we can see that NFTs are going to play a big part and that also means that the portability of your avatar across 3D worlds/metaverses will be key!