Nader Sammouri

OSAKA: Visualize a Facebook profile picture coming to life. It steps out of its designated frame and begins to interact with other profiles. It begins to initiate words and body gestures in a virtual room. Slowly, other profiles join that little social circle, one appearing to look like a Mickey Mouse and the other like a Japanese Grendizer.

That could be the future of social interactions, an open virtual field occupied with avatars; an extended transportable identity of the fixed social media profiles that exist today.

“Online game enthusiasts already communicate with each other in such a manner, so some people can relate to such a reality,” said Yuma Yanagisawa, a technical artist who creates extended reality experiences.

3D lifelike avatars may be the profiles of the future. But why are they so important to underscore?

Human beings tend to rely on images, and they become a kind of “truth.” The image, in old communal societies was not relied on as much, but in today’s global society, the image seems like everything.

3D avatars are a world of virtual identities where one is free to build their perceived image as they wish. The possibilities are endless in a virtually constructed world, and the creators of form are the people.

“This trend has been accelerated due to the global pandemic over the past couple of years, in my opinion. People are slowly accepting virtual technology and the solutions it brings,” Yanagisawa said.

Some may ask, but what is wrong with the real world and people’s real identities?

Evolution may have led to this point. Social media has given people a visa-free ticket to transport, conquer, and reach global prominence, which makes it almost inescapable to avoid this technology. It is hard to go back to the limited world of physicality and containment, where one can only navigate a few kilometers on foot. People’s physical impact used to be limited to where their physical bodies remained. Nonetheless, the online world is a route to becoming global in an instant. This urges businesses to develop the technologies that people rely on today and extend this accepted reality from a 2D platform to a 3D kind of online virtual society. People used to play 3D games, but they may shortly find themselves in them with some headsets and 21^st century code.

Many may ask: What will happen to real face-to face and heart-to-heart interactions?

The emotional fulfillment that people get from real interactions and knowing that the other person is totally present with them may be a psychological safety cushion that will never find a substitute.

“I think meeting in person will remain important in the future. It’s something irreplaceable,” Yanagisawa said.