What you need to know
- Meta Quest avatars in the Horizon Home environment now have legs in firmware v57.
- Players can enroll in the Public Test Channel right now to try the feature out.
- Legs can't be seen when looking down but can be seen in the mirror and by other players.
As we approach Meta Connect 2023 on September 27, we're seeing more and more promised Quest features and games finally see the light of day. Assassin's Creed VR was finally shown off after years of silence, and now an admittedly less exciting feature is also making its way to Quest headsets in the v57 firmware update: avatar legs.
Now, when you boot up your Quest on that v57 firmware and take a look at the mirror in your Horizon Home environment, you'll see legs on your avatar. These legs move with the player and look similar to leg movements in other games. They don't move with your real legs by using leg or knee detection, though, so don't go too crazy with movement just yet.
It's also noteworthy that legs don't bend at all when crouching, and players cannot see their own legs when they look down. Meta's Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bosworth, said looking down and seeing legs in unnatural positions or in places where your physical legs aren't located "is a very bad experience" and can be very dysmorphic.
Many of the best Quest games have had avatars with legs for a long time now, so it's interesting to see that Meta has taken so long to roll out what amounts to a "simple" feature.
Meta previously upgraded Quest avatars back in 2021 but, despite showing legs in the outfit previews, the avatars were still just floating bodies with a head and arms. Legs on avatars were shown off at last year's Connect conference in the Fall but we haven't heard much about the feature since then.
Anyone can try this right now but you'll need to enroll your headset in the public test channel for the next major firmware update, v57. Thankfully, that's just a quick setting in your Meta Quest app and you'll have the firmware update downloading shortly thereafter.
With the Quest 3 on the horizon, Meta has been rolling out more and more promised features like legs. Meta just rolled out the Horizon Worlds mobile test this week, which you can sign up for here, which also includes legs on avatars.
At nearly half the price of the upcoming Quest 3, the Quest 2 is still the best and cheapest way to get into VR.
