Spatial Systems Inc., a metaverse for cultural events and exhibitions surrounding nonfungible tokens, said today it’s partnering with Ready Player Me to bring full-body, customizable avatars to its platform.

Metaverses are immersive virtual environments that allow people to interact with one another in computer-generated settings. Because people are interacting with one another, they are represented by avatars, which provide their appearances. Many users can spend hours working on their appearance in a virtual world, tweaking and adjusting to make it look perfect.

By partnering with Ready Player Me, Spatial is bringing a whole new avatar experience into its platform that adds legs, a whole new range of customizability and options for fashion.

“Our creators and partners continue to push the boundaries of possibility, bringing communities together through customized experiential spaces,” said Jacob Loewenstein, head of growth at Spatial. “Adding legs to our avatars is so much more than just a feature update — it transforms the experience and opens doors to a host of new audiences.”

The new avatar models will also provide a whole new array of photorealistic full-body customizations that better represent different ethnicities and gender identities. That will allow users to adjust their online representations properly so they match how they want to express themselves in the virtual world.

Ready Player Me touts itself as the “connective passport to the metaverse” by providing avatars that can be used across different metaverses. Its avatars, and the fashion items connected to them, are monetized as nonfungible tokens. NFTs are a type of blockchain technology that allows the ownership of digital assets that is part of the decentralized web, known as Web3. Using this tool, these avatars can be owned by the users that create or trade for them.

“Spatial believes deeply in open and interoperable standards,” said Jinha Lee, co-founder and chief product officer. “We are driven by providing a home for anyone from the creator premiering a new collection at an exhibition, to watch parties, runway shows or people looking for a place online for mental calm and freedom of expression.”

Spatial originally started as an enterprise virtual reality collaboration platform in 2016, but recently shifted its focus to Web3 and NFT cultural events. This partnership with Ready Player Me is a natural evolution of Spatial’s continuing support of Web3 technologies and the cultural zeitgeist and communities that have formed in its wake.

Within Spatial’s metaverse, users may visit galleries where NFT artwork is displayed and purchase it using cryptocurrencies, attend concerts, join lectures and sit down for sedate, private gatherings. The platform also supports NFT-based virtual environments.

In the past six months, the company said that it has seen the audience of its platform grow by 10 times. Spatial currently hosts more than 350,000 virtual spaces, with 8 million minutes a month spent in galleries this year.

“We know this is just the start of an exciting journey for us and the industry at large, and we are continuing to innovate and push for further representation in the space,” said Anand Agarawala, co-founder and chief executive of Spatial.

Image: Spatial