Zuckerberg on Using the Metaverse to Bring Back the Dead Virtually

• Mark Zuckerberg recently demoed his humanlike VR avatars in an interview in the Metaverse.
• He was asked about how the tech could be used to create virtual versions of deceased loved ones.
• Zuckerberg said it was a complex idea but said there was “probably some balance” for the concept.

There’s a chance Meta’s highly realistic new avatars could one day be used as a way to interact with loved ones who have passed away.

In a recent interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed the future possibilities of VR and the Metaverse.

The interview served as a debut for Meta’s new Codec avatars that use scanning technology to build 3D models of the user’s face.

During the interview, which took place in the Metaverse, Fridman said: “I would love to talk to people who are no longer here that are loved ones. So if you look into the future, is that something you think about?”

Zuckerberg acknowledged it was a complex idea but said there was “probably some balance” for the concept of creating a virtual version of a deceased person by using VR and AI technology.

He told Fridman: “If someone has lost a loved one and is grieving, there may be ways in which being able to interact or relive certain memories could be helpful.”

He added there was also an extent to which this could become “unhealthy.”

“I’m not an expert in that, so I think we’d have to study that and understand it in more detail,” he added.

Representatives for Zuckerberg did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, made outside normal working hours.

Fridman was impressed by how realistic Meta’s new avatars were – a vast improvement from its previous attempts with the technology that were savagely mocked online.

One cartoonish image of Zuckerberg’s early metaverse avatar outside a virtual version of the Eiffel Tower posted on social media famously became the target of internet memes.

Meta has struggled to maintain consumer and investor interest in its Metaverse after being hyped as the next big thing. Reality Labs, the division that handles metaverse work, lost nearly $14 billion in 2022 and was hit by layoffs.