Overview of the new avatar system

How does this positively impact customers?

The new avatar system enhances our user’s ability to represent themselves. Users have many more options, especially regarding skin tone and body type. We made it easier for users to identify however they want and removed any restrictions and assumptions based on gender.

The new avatar system is more than a facelift; it is a complete reworking of our avatars' operations. This means we can develop new functionality faster, and it also means we have new ways to manage system performance and can continue to improve and refine these methods.

Are there any costs associated with the new avatar system?

There are no costs or fees associated with the new avatar system. There are so many benefits for both Virbela customers and Virbela itself.

What is the philosophy influencing the new avatar system?

Virbela’s initial avatar system existed for over 10 years. It was very successful approach for users of Virbela to have an easy-to-use way to become part of their own Virbela community. Over that time, we have learned much from our customers about what worked well with this system and what aspects could be improved. We have distilled those learnings and aligned them with our core technologies' current and near-future state to develop our next-generation avatars that give us a basis for the next decade of Virbela.

One of the most critical aspects of being a part of a community in Virbela is how your avatar can be unique while being part of the shared culture of your Virbela world. Our new avatars have been designed to provide a much wider range of representations with a shared and unique style that situates them as part of the Virbela metaverse. This stylization helps the avatars be more empathetic for users to project themselves onto and is efficient with the current state of technologies. Core technologies for the metaverse are still very far from creating accurate photorealistic real-time avatars and attempts to do that distract from the activities that people want to use Virbela for today. There is an “uncanny valley” that avatars and robots can fall into when they aim for and fall short of realism. The stylized representations of our new avatars continue the lessons learned from our earlier avatars - easy to use, support large scale of use, reinforce community, and be fun while expanding the range of representation to be a platform that will be readily expandable with new options and capabilities.

Will the new avatar system include animated bots to greet or help people?

No, we have no plans to create bots to greet or help people. Virbela is human-powered, and we want to ensure that our users feel welcomed into our community.

Will the new avatar system be interoperable with other virtual worlds and platforms?

Our new functionality is not designed to be interoperable, and instead, we have focused on providing highly optimized, distinct experiences with a cultivated visual identity for enterprise companies. Our goal is to further social community engagement by creating a shared social community where users can access a range of individual customizations while still being a part of the same community experience. We offer a range of representation options so that users can be further individualized while being part of a coherent social community.

Will the new avatars work with cryptocurrency or NFTs?

No, Virbela and its avatars are currently not associated with cryptocurrency or NFTs.

Migrating to the new avatar system

How do customers customize their existing avatar using the new avatar system?

The new avatar system is entirely different from the old avatar system. As a result, users will have to re-create their avatars from scratch once their campus migrates to the new system.

Can my campus use the old avatars and the new avatars?

No, the new avatar system is entirely different from the existing one. Customers must give up their old avatars after migrating to the new system.

If I switch to the new avatar system, can I return to using the old avatars?

Only in dire circumstances. If a customer is experiencing significant performance or stability issues, Virbela may switch the campus back to the original avatar system.

Do customers have to use the new avatar system?

We do need all customers to move to the new avatar system. That said, Virbela is very flexible and is happy to work with customers on the timing.

Virbela plans to deprecate the old avatars by the summer of 2023.

What happens if a user does not want to take the time to create an avatar from scratch?

Virbela has created several “starter” avatars to get your users started! Users can pick from a selection of predefined avatars. After making their selection, users can enter the world with the avatar as is or choose to continue to customize it.

Impact of the new avatar system on overall world functionality

Does this change how users will interact with the world?

No, users will interact with the world the same way they have done so in the past. The login process is the same as before. Navigating around the world, using web browsers, screen sharing, and everything else is the same.

Is there any impact on how users use the Virbela dashboard?

No, there will be no change to how users log in and use the Virbela dashboard.

The functionality of the new avatar system

Is there anything different about how to build avatars?

Yes, a lot! There are many more options for users to refine their avatars.

There are a few design changes to how users build their avatars.

We have combined jackets and tops to make it easier for users to navigate through these options. If a user chooses a jacket over a top, the user cannot change the style of the undershirt.

We removed the option to randomize avatars. Instead, we allow users to choose one of many pre-designed avatars.

We removed the auto-zoom function, instead allowing users to decide when they want to zoom in on the avatar.

Have the avatar animations changed?

Not really. Users will still have all the same actions (e.g., waving, dancing) they did before. However, the animations may seem a bit different. While we do not intend to make the animations identical to the existing system, we plan to improve the animations continually.

Is there anything different with how badges work?

Badges are still created through the Virbela dashboard and will still appear on the avatar. The relative position of the badge is a bit different to account for different body shapes.

Old badges will carry over, though we recommend customers review them to ensure they still look good on the avatar.

Badges will not appear when avatars are rendered in the mid-range LOD.

Did all of the clothing options carry over into the new avatar system?

Not yet; we had to make some decisions to cut a few items out so we could release the new avatar system. The visor and sunglasses are the two main examples, and we will try to get these out in a subsequent release.

The vuvuzela, party horn, and noisemaker animations still produce the desired sound. However, the respective instruments will not appear in the initial release.

Holiday-themed assets are also not available in the initial release.

Can users make their own clothing/hairstyles/colors/etc.?

Individual users cannot do so. However, customers can contact their account manager to discuss Virbela’s custom development process.

What are the options for gender and clothing?

We have completely removed any references to gender. Instead, users can start with three basic body shapes, then customize from there.

All clothing options are available for all body shapes.

What happens if a user’s clothing item goes away?

Virbela is looking to add more functionality, not remove it. That said, sometimes, we are forced to remove an asset to improve the overall experience.

When this happens, users will spawn into the closet and receive a prompt:

In almost all cases, users can continue into the world and come back to make changes later. However, we want to notify users that their avatars may look different.

What features are coming next?

Virbela has a complete roadmap for the new avatar system. After the immediate release, we will start working on our themes and customization functionality. We will focus on existing customer customizations that appeared in the old avatar system and all the costumes that appeared in the old system.

After that, we will move on to facial animations, disability representation (e.g., wheelchairs), and other items.

The level of detail (LOD) system and performance management

Avatars in the distance look different. Why is this?

The new avatar system has three levels of detail.

The highest level of detail shows the avatars in their complete form.

As the user walks away from other avatars, they will retain this level of detail for some time.

At some point, the avatars will switch to the mid-range level of detail. The avatars lose some of their facial features. The avatar has simplified elements for avatar features and clothing. It has articulating animation.

As the users separate further, they will appear as cutouts. This is the low-range LOD. The avatar is a 2D avatar with colors derived from full fidelity avatar for different parts (skin, hair, torso, pants, shoes).

Virbela will continue to modify and enhance the LOD system in future releases.

How can users control the LOD system?

Yes, users can control the LOD system through user preferences.

The graphics options determine when avatars switch to the different LOD levels based on distance. For example, consider two users. One uses the “Best” graphics mode, while the other uses “Fastest.” Both are far enough away that their avatars appear as low-range LOD. As they walk towards each other, the user using the “Best” mode will see the “Fastest” mode user’s avatar convert to mid-range LOD well before the “Fastest” mode user sees the “Best” mode user’s avatar convert to mid-range LOD.

In addition, the user can prevent the LOD system from working in the first place. The above scenario works when the avatar complexity is set to “dynamic,” the recommended setting for all users.

However, if the user sets the complexity, all avatars will appear as cutouts (low-range LOD) regardless of distance. Likewise, if the user selects the complexity to “full,” all avatars will appear in full detail irrespective of distance.

Why do users appear as gray avatars briefly after logging in?

Our new avatars are complex and require a lot of data, and it takes a second or two for all that data to come together. Instead of having users wait, Virbela spawns them as a gray avatar.

The recently logged-in user will appear as a gray avatar to other users, and other users will appear as a gray avatar to the recently logged-in user.

The gray avatars should disappear almost immediately. If they do not, please reach out to Virbela tech support.

Do you have to restart the application when you modify LOD settings?

No, you don't need to relaunch Virbela to see the changes.

Known issues

/vuvu /partyhorn /noisemakers animations do not have the corresponding assets

How do I provide feedback?

Please let your account manager know if you have any feedback!