I'm almost embarrassed to admit that the first time I saw one of Meta's new holographic avatars today, during a WhatsApp call with a Meta rep I had just met a few minutes before, I didn't immediately clock that I was speaking to an avatar. That's how far the company's avatar technology has come in the last couple years. Meta announced at Connect that it's bringing its holographic avatars to its new VR glasses and to the Meta Ray-Ban Display frames. I got the chance to experience both ahead of the keynote and was surprised at how far the tech has come since the first time I experienced it on Meta's Orion prototype. Setting up an avatar is a bit different depending on which device you're using.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Nearly four years have passed since Facebook officially changed its corporate name to Meta, amid promises from founder Mark Zuckerberg that a fully realized digital "metaverse" was just around the corner. Since then, user adoption of virtual reality spaces has plateaued, and Zuckerberg himself has seemingly shifted focus towards AI companions and podcast-playing Ray Bans. For many, simply sitting on the couch at home with a dog by their side remains more appealing than slipping into VR. But what if your furry friend could join you?

You can now put on a virtual reality headset with sensors which will predict your facial expressions before you even make them and have them instantly mirrored on an avatar. MindMaze unveiled MASK on Wednesday, a lightweight foam with sensors that can be applied to VR headsets, which brings human emotion to VR gaming and social networking. MindMaze, a Switzerland based company, has developed products to help stroke victims and amputees using virtual reality, computer graphics, brain imaging & neuroscience -- and now it's bringing that technology to gaming. "There's a lot of technology but none of it is human," CEO and founder of MindMaze, Tej Tadi, told International Business Times about the VR world. MindMaze unveils MASK, which predicts facial expressions and mirrors them on VR avatars.