This sponsored post was produced by UploadVR in partnership with Dolami, Inc.
In the “real” world, the body we have is the body we live in. In virtual reality, however, we can become whoever we want to be. Our digital avatars are the way we express ourselves as we explore virtual worlds.
Sometimes, our avatar looks just like us, and other times, our avatar looks like who we feel we are. 3D avatars can be an extension of who we are in one way or another, and Avatown is working to create the future of avatar marketplaces.
Beginning in a San Francisco classroom in 2022, Avatown was created by Dolami, Inc. Initially, the company's focus was to develop a facial tracking system that would allow avatars to take on the real-life expressions of users; it was called X MASK.
With the ever-evolving VR industry and the impact of COVID-19, however, the team decided to make a switch from hardware to software, and that’s how Avatown was born. In the earlier days, the team used sewing machines in their classroom to create handmade X-MASK prototypes.
Currently, Avatown consists of 9 team members who all work remotely across Asia, America, and Europe. Although the team may not be physically present with each other in meetings, each member has a shared vision of what Avatown is and what the marketplace could become.
The goal? To get people thinking about their virtual identities and transform the current state of 3D avatars across multiple platforms. It can be jarring to enter VR and embody an avatar that either doesn’t look like you or doesn’t feel like you – Avatown aims to create a safe space where diversity, creativity, and individuality are at the forefront.
One of Avatown’s most notable projects to date is The Avatar Studio. Here, creators can design, customize, and utilize the avatars they build using Avatown’s streamlined reference sheet generator.
It includes a collection of testing tools that are developed with the support of digital avatar and world engineers to offer an experience that is intuitive for seasoned users and newcomers in as little as three steps.
The Avatar Studio has already seen 1.2+ million users with roughly 30,000 of them returning every week. The global marketplace launched in December 2024, and has since attracted more than 50 creators and listed over 150 digital items.
What could the future hold for Avatown? CEO and co-founder Yuta Inakazu has big dreams for the software including an improved customization experience and its own virtual reality games and spaces.
When he was only 10 years old, he experienced VR for the first time at a Japanese arcade. Although the games intrigued him then, he couldn’t express himself fully. Today, Avatown carries his memory at its core and strives to enhance and expand how users interact with their online identities.
Want to know more about Avatown and its future developments? Check them out on X, join the official Avatown Discord server, and begin your avatar creation experience today!
