Why Meta’s virtual-reality avatars are finally getting legs

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Why is it so hard to build a metaverse avatar — a visual representation of ourselves in the digital world — that walks on two legs? A cartoonish digital version of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his new avatar legs and jumped up and down at a virtual-reality event Tuesday. Early avatar models introduced by Meta, as well as Microsoft, have been ridiculed for appearing as legless, waist-up bodies floating around their virtual worlds. That’s in part because tech companies have been eager to show off their progress in building out virtual-reality environments while still working on the technical challenges of making avatars more human-like and realistic.