A new system for avatar interaction is now available in VRChat enabling users to interact with each other’s avatars in new ways.
The Avatar Dynamics system was in open beta earlier this year, but now it’s fully launched and provides a host of new options for VRChat users.
One part of the system is PhysBone, shown above. It is a more optimized replacement for DynamicBones that allows users to create physics-based bone and skeleton structures on avatars. There are several different interaction types that can be set up for an avatar. It also works on Quest, meaning that Quest users will be able to see moving hair, ears, clothes and more with real-time physics for the first time.
Avatar Dynamics also allows users to create unique interactions with avatars through user-defined colliders and tags, as seen below. Users can set colliders on certain parts of their avatar to result in different things — a costume change, a sound effect, or a state change, for example.
With this new system also comes a host of new settings that allow users to define and quickly change who can interact with their avatar. There are ways to disable interactions immediately, and players can also set rules and change settings to limit interactions in different ways — they can be turned off entirely, or set to just your friends, or changed on a per-user basis. The status of a user’s interactions settings — enabled or disabled — will also display above their nametag for others to see.
The Avatar Dynamics system is available in VRChat now. You can read more about the features and the associated privacy and safety settings over on the VRChat blog.