A Head-Turning Trend: Your First-Look at Leverocci's Upcoming Mesh Heads in Second Life

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

These days we have mesh feet, mesh hands, even mesh bodies, but the future of mesh avatar augmentation is all in your head. Or rather, on it. Jin Elfan has been teasing fans and followers with an upcoming set of mesh heads for Leverocci, her brand which has carved out a place for itself in the mesh fashion market. Jin was gracious enough to put together a preview pack of her three lovely heads (still in beta) for me to test out this week, so that I can share all the juicy details:

Mesh heads are already used by some designers for more realistic-looking models in ads (without all the liquifying I talked about last week to help), and a large part of their commercial appeal is to get that same effect in-world. Mesh body parts ignore the flaws built in to the SL avatar, while also allowing for a broader range of previously impossible features and details to be accessible to anyone, Photoshop-free. Although that's a hugely important thing for avatar aesthetes like myself, one of the biggest turnoffs remains the lack of individuality of a manufactured mesh face. However, the individuality of any avatar goes way beyond just their face. It's about how you wear what you have, and how it reflects your style, and your shape and face are just a segment of that whole package. With that being said, I'm not sure that mesh heads will be an everyday item for me personally, but I can definitely see the potential and appeal of playing with them... Especially for fellow bloggers, photographers, and fashionistas.

I'm modelling Leverocci's Megan head, inspired by Megan Fox. I love the toothy pout of this head in particular, even though the runway-ready cheeks aren't as plump as what I'd usually pick for my own face. Each of these faces are fashionably fierce and definitely not ideal for a girl-next-door look. Yet as much as I normally like looking a little "soft", I loved how sultry and sexy this head made my avatar--definitely the kind of thing I'd like having on hand for those times when the sweet look just isn't working for me.

These heads come with a HUD, as well as a base skin that allows for a seamless join between the body and the neck. I'm wearing my own prim eyes which were a perfect fit for the sockets in the head, and most importantly I didn't have to modify my shape at all for a flawless fit (but your mileage may vary). The HUD currently has 10 lipsticks and 10 eyeshadows for you to choose from with each head, and it also gives you the ability to toggle the head's ears and scalp on or off, so you shouldn't have to worry about your favorite hairstyles clipping through. The HUD I've worked with is still in beta, and I think it does have a little room to grow. I'd love to see options like built-in eyelashes, eyebrow colors, and hairbases added in the future to really address those customizing concerns that make so many fashionistas hesitant about mesh heads. For the truly picky individual, Jin has mentioned on her Flickr that custom heads will eventually be available as well.

Whether you're clamoring to buy or just curious enough to try a demo, you will still have to wait a little bit longer before these beauties are out. Until then, check out Leverocci in-world or on the Marketplace for plenty of other fabulous mesh fashion (including the top I'm wearing above!)

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Iris Ophelia (Janine Hawkins IRL) has been featured in the New York Times and has spoken about SL-based design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan and with pop culture/fashion maven Johanna Blakley.

Comments

[Adeon Writer]

Finally, we'll start to see some new faces in SL. To me, everyone on the default avatar base seems to look like they have the same family genes.

But.. We need morph targets.

[Emerald Wynn]

Kinda creepy. :\

[Kerryth Tarantal]

Soooo.... an avatar for your avatar?

It is just a bit "uncanny valley" or something.

[Iggy]

Interesting where we all find that uncanny valley in different places. I'm not getting that at all for Iris' latest avatar.

On the other hand, the wet-eyed, liver-lipped Frankengals so popular at Marketplace? They scream "Run, do not walk, for your first life, please." And males have little choice at all, beyond buff biker and ironic hipster.

My question about this all: creators of avatars have gone far beyond LL's viewer and world in terms of sophistication. When a better VW environment with UGC emerges to supplant SL's dwindling lagfest, will these avatars follow?

[Lyrical Popstar]

Oh look, just another way to cover up ugly-ass Ruth.

When will LL realize that the creators' abilities have greatly surpassed the limitations of Ruth and update the avatar mesh finally?

I'm so tired of matching skin to body parts designed to cover up the ugly mess. Upgrade already!

[Lyrical Popstar]

Give us an avatar mesh like in this video, and I'll start logging in again more regularly again. At this point, SL feels so outdated.

Skip the first minute or so, but check out these avatars customizable in-world on Eve Online... why can't LL give us something like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3P7cu4ekuY

[Lyrical Popstar]

Female avi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO21LfBkcVA&feature=related

[Orca Flotta]

Brrrrrr ... that face is creeping me out o.O

My avie is pretty enough as she is, even without any artificial beauty enhancers, no prim lashes, no fingernails, no primmy feet or hands. A bit toonish but still cute and as pretty as they come.

@ Lyrical:
Yes, the EVE avatars are a joy to create. But I hope you are aware that this is pure playing since they can not leave their spaceships and are never to be seen again after you make them.
Well, I was too stupid and forgetful to grasp the game mechanics, so after making the avie I just flew around for half an hour and tried never again.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

EVE avis are slated to be able to leave the ship and stroll around, eventually, but the players demanded (and got) a reshuffling of priorities that put it on the back burner.

There are plenty of other avatar customization systems out there to look at. SL should borrow from them shamelessly.

[Pussycat Catnap]

It may be because those eve avatars don't get used int he actual game that they can be so detailed.

But it is also high time that the SL avatar got some options for an update.

The real gamble is how to do it without obsoleting all existing content.

This mesh head will result in an army of people even more clonelike than the current status if it lacks morph targets. And it'll likely be a bane for non-whites. These folks tend to always make just caucasian models, and then apply a color tinting option for everyone else. Hopefully this is different, but the only example seen so far is one caucasian face - so no reason yet to assume this maker is somehow not typical.

[Burper Tilling]

Imported mesh is great for cars, buildings, boats, animals and clothing, but I've yet to see a 'mesh' human avatar in SL that looks better than a properly made and skinned standard LL one. The smoother joint articulation of mesh is a bit wasted if the avatar looks like an inflatable plastic doll that's escaped from Blue Mars.

[Ener Hax]

i want more realistic looking cows in Farmville! =D

[Kim Anubis]

Ener, you cracked me up. Mooooooo!

[Melissa Yeuxdoux]

That is indeed LL's dilemma, Pussycat. I hope that LL chooses a path that will ultimately improve the avatar. Eternal backwards compatibility is, as they say in _Dune_, the broad, safe path that leads ever down to stagnation.

Fred Brooks nailed it when he wrote "Prepare to throw one away. You will, anyhow. The only question is whether you'll deliver the throwaway to your customers." Actually, there is another question: will LL be the ones who write the second version?

[Pussycat Catnap]

LLs will be.

Not because they'll do it best, but because they are the only player in the field that lays out a standard the rest of us are all stuck adopting to - like it or not.

We can hope they do it right. But that's just hope. :)

They've managed to keep us on this late 1990s 'base avatar mesh' for quite some time now, simply by keeping the door locked on any other option. Now that mesh uploading is here... that gives them the 'excuse' to not devote energy to an update - but no mesh uploaded by the community has the ability to become a standard in the same way. All to many factors (IP ownership, agreement over who gets to be in charge, etc...) prevent it.

[Oh Dear]

One of the questions in the SL Mesh Tutorial Questionnaire specifically asks in what instance a creator can create a likeness of a celebrity and sell it in Second Life.

I look forward to seeing Jin Elfan's permission to use Megan Fox's likeness from her agency before she releases this for sale.