This is my personal avatar, created using Viverse web tools. Picture: HTC.
Already pre-ordered the HTC VIVE XR Elite? Or, maybe you’re still hesitating and want to get a taste of what HTC’s VIVE headset and platform in general have to offer? Either way, you’re in luck. Until the new product hits customers in late February or early March, you can already play in the company’s own version of the metaverse: the HTC Viverse.
HTC introduced the Viverse at the launch of the VIVE XR Elite, showing off a metaverse designed to be highly customizable by its user, from your close surroundings to the avatar that represents you. This new universe is still in its infancy, but you can already start preparing your entry into virtual reality by visiting the Viverse website.
We’ll quickly guide you through setting up your first avatar, entering your first world, and taking a peek at the realities HTC VIVE XR Elite will open up to you when it finally arrives at your home.
How to create your avatar?
The easiest way to create your avatar is to use HTC’s web tools, which allow you to perform this task entirely in your web browser. Picture: HTC.
One of the characteristics of Viverse is its openness. To this end, HTC offers several ways to create or import the avatar that will represent you in the Viverse.
More traditionally, you can use the web tools provided by HTC through a familiar character builder-like interface (seen at the top of this page) to generate a full avatar (here, there are no torsos floating).
If the slightly “cartoonish” look of the resulting avatars is too unrealistic for your taste, you can also choose to use HTC’s VIVE Avatar Creator app, available as a free download from Google Play or the Apple App Store. . Be aware that the most realistic avatars generated by the application are those based on a photo you have taken of yourself. You can also customize your avatar with clothes, hairstyles, and accessories, just like you can with the web-based tools.
You can also download a VRM type file (accepted in several VR platforms), which allows your avatar to be hyper-realistic or to look like a cartoon character. Picture: HTC.
Finally, the creation method that is potentially the most exciting is HTC’s support for uploading a VRM file. This type of file is a cross-platform container for your avatar. It can be transferred from a variety of other existing VR and AR platforms, such as VRChat, various Vtuber streaming tools (to hide its face), creation apps like VR Studio, and even some web games. The possibilities of your avatar’s appearance, size and behavior are almost limitless thanks to the many tools for creating and editing avatars with this VRM format.
You can preview your look before finalizing it and moving on to the next step, which is entering HTC’s Viverse for the first time. Picture: HTC.
Once you’ve decided which method you want to use and you’re happy with how you look (don’t worry, you can always change or replace your avatar later), you can move on to the next step: enter your first Viverse world.
Enter the Viverse
A variety of worlds are available that are themed around specific sports, movies, shows, and brands. Picture: HTC.
Despite HTC’s promise to enter these Viverse worlds by getting closer, helmet on, walking towards windows and drawings and then crossing them to switch to the other side, the process is, for now, still more banal.
There are several ways to find a world to explore, but the easiest way to start is to visit your avatar page and click on the “Explore Worlds” button below your avatar.
You will see a list of available worlds created by professional users and individuals. Clicking on any of them will load the world after a short wait, allowing you to walk around and interact with all the elements there using keyboard and mouse controls , which should be familiar to any gamer. These same worlds can be explored much more naturally with VIVE XR Elite or another VIVE-enabled headset.
I never managed to wake him up, and maybe it’s better that way. Picture: HTC.
The quality of this or that corner of the Viverse can vary quite greatly, even when a major brand is attached to one of them.
One of the best places I found during my short stay was a world called “Hotel of the Underworld”, a tiny Japanese inn populated by a few interesting characters like the giant innkeeper and Kasa-Obake, another hopping character on his only leg.
Worlds like this tend to contain stuff that may not have an official license. Picture: HTC.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are the worlds that seem to be just rooms populated by a variety of known inanimate characters. For example, this world titled “Time Chamber” which featured various characters and locations from Dragon Ball Z at different scales. Interesting for a minute or two of exploration, but certainly not pushing the limits of what the Viverse would be capable of.
Create your own world
There’s tons of space, and an entire floor to fill with furniture, interactive objects, and even portals to other worlds. Picture: HTC.
Luckily, if you’re not happy with the options available, you can simply create your own world. When you sign up for Viverse, you get a free “starter world”. Currently, you can choose from three basic templates, which you can then populate with the objects HTC provides to all users, as well as imported resources from other sources.
Of course, the more time you are willing to devote to it, the more complex your world can become. In this case, the phrase “the only limit is your imagination” has rarely been so relevant.
Source: ZDNet.com