Facebook’s Next Plan Is To Put Your Entire Body Into Virtual Reality

Harin - May 06, 2019

After working on redesigning its app and web platform, Facebook plans to put your entire body in a virtual reality social network.

Facebook has been redesigning its web and app platform, to make it more privacy-oriented. But that seems not to be the only announcement from the company. The company also wants to bring people into a virtual reality social network.

At the recent Facebook F8 conference, the company outlined its plans about virtual reality. In case you have no idea what this is about, Facebook owns a VR platform called Oculus. The company has been thinking about how to integrate it into its social network and in the most direct way.

Facebook is developing a full-body VR system which puts your entire body into a VR simulation. In this simulation, you can meet other people who are also in their digital fresh and hang out with them.

The idea behind this is to bring in new technology to bring back all the users the company has lost over the last few years.

The VR avatars simulate the human body, with layers of bone, muscle, and skin. They will look just like the users. And by utilizing a physics-based software, the avatars will also imitate their real-life movements. Moreover, users clothing, as well as facial expressions, will also be replicated.

Although, since the project started, the avatars have been improved, they are still very limited. At the moment, there will only be your head and hands because they are the most easily tracked features with the Oculus Quest VR headset and controllers.

The demo video which Facebook showed on May 1st indicates a much more advanced future. The video displayed 3D-modelled bodies that can offer different motions and interactions with the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, it will take the company quite a lot of time to reach that level.

Another thing Facebook showed off in its demonstration video is that the company will work on how to protect people’s avatars, especially when they look exactly the same as real people. He suggested using fingerprint or facial recognition for avatar locking. Of course, the idea of putting your trust on Facebook for protecting your biometric data might not be the best one, regarding their past with privacy-related issues.