Dossier 13: The Metaverse

Moving towards the metabody

The realistic simulation of movement is one of the most important aspects of identifying yourself with a given (virtual) body—and it’s also one of the things the metaverse hasn’t gotten quite right yet. It was only recently celebrated that Meta’s metaverse, Horizon Worlds, would finally be implementing legs on their avatars. So it would only be natural to feel apprehensive about occupying a digitised space in which essential movement can’t even be guaranteed. 

But don’t you fret. With some wonderful body contributions from our own Toolkit team, we will take you through the steps of becoming familiar with your virtual self. That way, when we all eventually disappear into the metaverse, you’ll be ready to completely embody your avatar.

Hold up! Don’t run away. We haven’t even begun to explore all the different possibilities of a simulated self.

We get it. You’re probably a bit nervous to inhabit a non-physical plane of existence just like that. But don’t worry, you’ll come to realise that your digital anatomy is not so separate from you after all.

We can start off slow. Just some small movements. It’s controlled, safe. We’ve seen and done these steps before…

… but maybe we can experiment a bit. Try out some more limb action? What better way to connect to your own body than performing the well-known and popular Macarena? 

Before you know it, you’ll be moving like you’ve never moved before. 

Isn’t it amazing, using your body in ways physics have not allowed you to in the ‘real’ world? 

Soon you won’t be able to wait to take a deep dive into the virtual realm! 

So…do you feel ready to digitise yourself and inhabit the metaverse now? Give it a whirl. Maybe you’ll like it.