Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta is planning “major updates” to its VR graphics after previously sharing an image of his own VR avatar that was widely mocked. He said the company will share more information about the changes at the upcoming Connect event. Zuckerberg’s announcement came days after a screenshot from Horizon Worlds, the company’s social VR environment, became trending on Twitter.
Originally, the image was distributed last week along with the announcement of Horizon Worlds in France and Spain. The screenshot showed an almost faceless Zuckerberg avatar against a VR backdrop of the Eiffel Tower and Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia.
The image quickly gained a life of its own on Twitter, as people laughed off the low-resolution graphics and amateurish look. In particular, many wondered why Zuckerberg’s avatar was so flat and lifeless. After all, the company is spending billions of dollars and betting its future on the success of the meta-universe.
While Zuckerberg didn’t respond directly to the criticism, he acknowledged that the image he shared earlier was “pretty basic”, and promised improvements. His latest post contains two new, much more detailed, and realistic renderings: his avatar and an open scene depicting ancient ruins.
“I know the photo I posted earlier this week was pretty basic — it was taken very quickly to celebrate a launch,” Zuckerberg noted. “The graphics in Horizon are capable of much more — even on headsets — and Horizon is improving very quickly.”
