How to create an avatar in SteamVR Home

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SteamVR Home brings some new social features to the VR platform – here's how to kit out your personal avatar.

SteamVR Home has emerged for the HTC Vive, as a part of a recent build of the SteamVR beta. The feature is a social extension of SteamVR currently in testing and introduces a new customizable space fit for online social experiences. As a part of the platform, it's possible to create your own customizable avatar for use in its social elements. Here's how to get started and create your own custom SteamVR avatar.

Enroll in the SteamVR beta

If you're not already a SteamVR Home user, you'll first need to enroll into the ongoing SteamVR beta. This version of the platform is where you'll see in progress features and tweaks ahead of their public rollout. Any Steam users enroll with the beta today and instantly get early access to these upcoming features. These are the steps to enroll your Steam account in the beta program.

1. Open Steam.
2. Navigate to Library > Tools via the top navigation bar.
3. Right-click on SteamVR from the Tools list.
4. Select Properties.
5. Navigate to the BETAS tab.
6. Choose beta – SteamVR Beta update from the drop-down box.

After accepting the changes, you'll be entered into the SteamVR beta. After joining, your Steam client should automatically begin downloading a few hundred megabytes of files. After this has been installed, you'll be readying to jump into your first SteamVR home experience.

Note: As a piece of software still in development, you may experience some minor issues when using the SteamVR beta. If you experience any problems with SteamVR, you may need to revert to the public release.

Customize your SteamVR Home avatar

Once set up with the SteamVR beta, it's time to jump into SteamVR Home. By following these steps, you can get started with creating your custom avatar.

1. Open SteamVR.
2. Press the System button your HTC Vive controller to open the SteamVR menu.
3. Select the Home icon in the bottom left-hand side of the menu (If you don't see this, check you're enrolled in the SteamVR beta).
4. Follow the on-screen steps for the SteamVR Home welcome walkthrough.
5. Select the Avatars menu from the SteamVR Home menu.

From the Avatars section, you can tweak various aspects of your avatar based on your personal preference. While we can likely expect more customization choices later down the line, a brief collection is now available to experiment with.

For now, there are three aspects of your avatar which can be customized. A range of different head types are available to choose from, each with their unique styling and colors to choose from. Hand models can also be changed within SteamVR Home, although currently, only two options are available to choose from. Finally, a collection of props can be attached to your player model, including objects ranging from hats to plush toys.

Have you tried out SteamVR Home? What are you thinking of the platform? Let us know in the comments section!

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