Avatar systems from Second Life to Meta Avatars (2003–2023)

1. Second Life publicly launches with user avatars

   Jun 23, 2003Labels: Second Life, Linden Lab

   • Second Life
   • TechCrunch

2. Second Life’s Linden Dollar economy scales up

   Jan 1, 2005Labels: Linden Dollar, Second Life

   • Second Life
   • Economy SL

3. Integrated in-world voice chat reaches main viewer

   Aug 2, 2007Labels: In-world Voice, Second Life

   • SL Blog
   • WIRED

4. Linden Lab acquires major web marketplace brands

   Jan 20, 2009Labels: Linden Lab, XStreet SL

   • SL Blog
   • SL Wiki

5. Second Life Viewer 2.3 beta introduces Display Names

   Oct 27, 2010Labels: Display Names, Second Life

   • SL Wiki

6. Display Names launch in the main Second Life viewer

   Nov 17, 2010Labels: Display Names, Viewer 2

   • SL News
   • SL Wiki

7. Second Life adds mesh import for custom bodies

   Aug 23, 2011Labels: Mesh Import, Second Life

   • SL Wiki

8. Bakes on Mesh project viewer ships to testers

   Feb 15, 2019Labels: Bakes on, Linden Lab

   • SL Wiki

9. Third-party viewers adopt Bakes on Mesh widely

   Sep 30, 2019Labels: Third-party Viewers, Firestorm

   • Modemworld

10. Meta expands 3D avatars beyond VR to Instagram

    Jan 31, 2022Labels: Meta Avatars, Meta

    • TechCrunch

11. Meta launches the Meta Avatars Store for outfits

    Jun 22, 2022Labels: Meta Avatars, Meta

    • Meta News

12. Meta grows avatar fashion through DressX partnership

    Dec 1, 2022Labels: DressX, Meta

    • Vogue Biz

13. WhatsApp begins rolling out 3D avatars globally

    Dec 7, 2022Labels: WhatsApp Avatars, WhatsApp

    • TechCrunch
    • Engadget

14. Second Life–style avatar culture influences “metaverse” debates

    Jan 1, 2023Labels: Second Life, Metaverse Debates

    • WIRED