Oculus is one of the biggest producers of virtual reality equipment. They have been developing the technology for years now, and with that has come a lot of potential for various industries. One of their latest announcements is that the Oculus network is going to start letting people represent themselves with customized avatars, or a digital representation of themselves.
Oculus avatars are officially out but they haven’t been noticed by too many people yet. That is because they were released amid other big announcements such as the new Touch controllers. Those who have found the avatar feature have found it quite nice.
Instead of trying to create photorealistic avatars, Oculus has decided to aim for digitalized recreations of people. By not trying to be photorealistic you actually achieve a much more connectable avatar. Photorealism can appear creepy and hard to connect to because it feels fake. Just because the avatars displayed on Oculus aren’t photorealistic, those who have used them say they are easy to connect to. Some people say that the avatars represent people so well that you can recognize their owners in the real world.
Digital avatars in the Oculus world are outlines of people who glow one of a multitude of colors. Everything from the hands to the head can be detailed to look in the form that you want. When you interact with items in the Oculus platform, the body that you customize is represented. For example, when you move your controllers to look at your hands, your digital hands appear in the color that you have chosen.
Everything from your shape to your clothing and accessories is customizable. Styling your hair can even be done regularly to change your design based on your personality.
More and more of the Oculus programs plan to integrate avatars into the applications. Right now there are only a number of programs that utilize the avatars. But within a week of the release of these avatars two programs added support. What a lot of people are looking forward to is the rollout of Oculus rooms where people can host friends and strangers in their own virtual houses. The digital avatar will be your representation in this digital world.
Adding avatars to Oculus was only a matter of time; it is a logical step in the development of a virtual reality fashion experience. However, it does more than just make progress in the digital world, it opens the door to many other changes in the digital world.
What a lot of people are looking forward to, is the addition of fashion and other designer aspects for Oculus. This will allow you to have a virtual self where you can try out whatever you want. A virtual you, powered by Oculus, will allow you to have a style based around what you want … not just what you can afford in the real world.
A virtual you, powered by Oculus, will allow you to have a style based around what you want.
These styles that you try on aren’t limited to digital world. Fashion designers and retailers can take their wares to the digital world where you can try out various real life designs. What designers want is the ability for people to try out their fashion items and be able to order them based on whether or not they like them.
Fashion isn’t the only industry that is looking to display their products in the virtual world. The automotive industry is already working with the virtual reality platform to display their cars and allow virtual walkthroughs. Audi utilized the Samsung VR headset to allow tours of their cars. Volvo did the same with Microsoft HoloLens.
Virtual avatars are the next step in enhancing the virtual reality experience and it has arrived. It may even play a part in the Virtual Reality Fashion Week being developed by RNWY VR. By implementing avatars the tech world is adding the ability for people to feel truly represented by a image of themselves. Or what they want to look like.
Keeping an eye on the virtual reality industry is a must for anyone who is interested in the possibilities that exist. The virtual reality experience has a lot to offer for many different industries. Markets like the fashion industry have so much opportunity, and avatars are about to start being available to the layperson who uses Oculus and other virtual reality platforms.
Who knows? We might even see them at New York Fashion Week.
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