Meta launches ‘Motivo’ AI to enhance avatars with more human-like movements in Metaverse

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has unveiled a new AI model called Meta Motivo to advance digital avatar interactions within Web3 and metaverse ecosystems. The first-of-its-kind behavioural foundation model is designed to optimise whole-body motion control for avatars, making their movements more human-like and seamless.

Meta Motivo leverages unsupervised reinforcement learning to enable virtual avatars to perform complex tasks, from simple gestures to dynamic body movements. According to Meta, the model requires no additional training and can seamlessly execute tasks like motion tracking, goal pose reaching, and reward optimisation.

In a blog post, Meta described Motivo as a breakthrough in AI-driven avatar control: “Motivo uses an unlabelled dataset of motions to learn human-like behaviours, while retaining zero-shot inference capabilities, making virtual interactions more natural and fluid.”

Meta shared a demo video on X (formerly Twitter), showcasing Motivo’s integration with virtual avatars. The clip featured a humanoid avatar performing intricate body movements such as dancing and dynamic kicks, highlighting the AI’s ability to trigger lifelike behaviour.

Meta noted that Motivo’s AI framework would improve the physics and realism of virtual avatars in metaverse platforms.

The Motivo announcement is part of Meta’s larger push to refine its metaverse technology. Earlier this year, Meta introduced Hyperscape, a tool capable of transforming 2D environments into photorealistic metaverse backgrounds using smartphone cameras.

Meta’s Reality Labs division, responsible for metaverse projects, has faced consecutive losses since its inception in 2022. Despite these financial challenges, CEO Mark Zuckerberg remains committed to the metaverse vision, consistently investing in technologies like Quest VR headsets and hardware wearables.

In June, Meta restructured its Reality Labs team into two divisions: one dedicated to metaverse-focussed Quest headsets and the other exploring future wearable devices. The reorganisation aims to streamline efforts in developing AI-powered Web3 technologies.