Meta's avatars are convincingly real

During a WhatsApp call with a Meta representative, the author didn't immediately realize she was speaking to a holographic avatar rather than a real person, showing how far the technology has advanced.

“I didn't immediately clock that I was speaking to an avatar”

Two devices, two avatar approaches

Meta announced at Connect that holographic avatars are coming to its new VR glasses and Meta Ray-Ban Display frames. The setup process differs depending on which device you use.

Ray-Ban avatars take five minutes to create

With display-enabled glasses, users create an avatar in the Meta AI app by showing their face from different angles and answering questions about their voice and personality. The entire process takes about five minutes.

The Muse model learns your expressions

Meta's new Muse Realtime Avatar model uses the brief training period to approximate your actual facial expressions while you speak. The avatars are powered by this technology for Ray-Ban Display glasses.

The avatar's expressions don't quite match reality

The author's avatar was more expressive and grinned more than she typically does in conversations. However, people unfamiliar with her mannerisms might not easily detect the difference from a real person.

A watermark identifies avatars on calls

Meta is adding a transparent watermark to all video calls with an avatar to identify them as artificial. The watermark can be subtle enough to initially go unnoticed by viewers unfamiliar with it.

VR avatars are full-body and more realistic

Meta's VR glasses create full-body avatars without requiring users to teach the system their expressions. The advanced cameras and sensors understand facial expressions automatically, producing more natural results than Apple's persona avatars.

VR avatars have movement limitations

VR avatars show only a frontal view and cannot walk. When users move around the room, the avatar subtly turns to follow them, though the movement doesn't feel entirely smooth. Meta is still working out the mechanics.

Avatars are limited to early preview stage

Holographic avatars are still in early preview with bugs to be worked out. Ray-Ban Display users can only call other Ray-Ban Display users as avatars, and VR avatars are limited to glasses to glasses interactions for now.

Ray-Ban avatars arrive in early access this fall

Holographic avatars will be available to Meta Ray-Ban Display users in early access this fall. Meta says avatars could help people feel more presence on video calls, particularly for work meetings when not camera-ready.