• Meta is recruiting people to record facial expressions and small talk to help build virtual avatars.
• It's for "Project Warhol," which is run by the data firm Appen, and pays $50 an hour.
• Meta's Reality Labs has lost $60 billion since 2020, and it sees 2025 as a make-or-break year.

What's in a smile? If you're training Meta's virtual reality avatars, it could be $50 an hour.

The tech giant is recruiting adults through the data-collection and -labeling company Appen to spend hours in front of cameras and sensors to help "enhance the virtual reality of the future."

Meta's avatars have come a long way since they were widely mocked on the internet nearly three years ago.

Now, with 2025 internally described as Meta's "most critical year" for its metaverse ambitions, the company is betting that hyperrealistic digital avatars can drive its next wave of virtual and augmented technologies, from Quest headsets to Ray-Ban smart glasses.

But to get there, Meta needs more data.

Inside Project Warhol

The company is paying freelancers to record their smiles, movements, and small talk as part of a data collection effort called "Project Warhol," run by Appen, which lists Meta as the client in its consent forms.

Meta confirmed to Business Insider that Project Warhol is part of its effort to train Codec Avatars — a research initiative announced publicly in 2019 that aims to build photorealistic, real-time digital replicas of people for use in virtual and augmented reality.

Codec Avatars are a key technology for Meta's vision of "metric telepresence," which the company says enables social presence that is "indistinguishable from reality" during virtual interactions.

A Meta spokesperson told BI the company has been running similar avatar data collection studies for several years. Project Warhol appears to be the latest round of that effort.

Recruitment materials invite anyone over 18 to take part in paid sessions to "assist in the bettering of avatars." The project is split into two studies — "Human Motion" and "Group Conversations" — both set to begin in September at Meta's Pittsburgh research facility.

In the Human Motion study, participants would be recorded "mimicking facial expressions, reading sentences, making hand gestures," while cameras, headsets, and sensors capture their movements from every angle.

The Group Conversations study would bring together two or three participants to "engage in conversations and light improv activities." Researchers are aiming to capture natural speech, gestures, and microexpressions to build avatars that are more "lifelike and immersive" in social settings.

A high-stakes year for Meta

The project comes in a crunch year for Meta Reality Labs, the division that oversees avatars, headsets, and smart glasses. It has accumulated more than $60 billion in losses since 2020, including a record $4.97 billion operating loss in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In an internal memo from November, first reported by BI, Meta's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, said 2025 would be crucial for the metaverse's success or failure. He told staff that the company's ambitious metaverse bets could be remembered as a "legendary misadventure" if they failed.

In his memo, Bosworth stressed the need to boost sales and engagement, especially in mixed reality and "Horizon Worlds." He added that Reality Labs planned to launch half a dozen more AI-powered wearable devices, though he didn't give details.

In April, Meta laid off an undisclosed number of employees from Reality Labs, including teams working on VR gaming and the Supernatural fitness app. Dan Reed, the chief operating officer of Reality Labs, announced his departure weeks later after nearly 11 years with the company.

The Appen project's name appears to be a nod to Andy Warhol, the Pittsburgh-born artist who famously said everyone would have "15 minutes of fame."

Appen declined to comment on the project.

The humans behind the scenes

Project Warhol isn't the only example of Meta turning to human labor to train its technology.

BI previously reported that the company enlisted contractors through the data-labeling startup Scale AI to test how its chatbot responds to emotional tones, sensitive topics, and fictional personas.

And it's not just Meta. Last year, Tesla paid up to $48 an hour for "data collection operators" to wear motion-capture suits and VR headsets while performing repetitive physical tasks to help train its humanoid robot, Optimus.

• Seabourn is Carnival Corp's ultra-luxury, all-inclusive cruise line.
• Seabourn Quest is set to embark on a 145-day, around-the-world cruise to 67 ports in 2027.
• The vessel has high-end amenities like a marina, guest lectures, and caviar service.

Spending five months living in a 300-square-foot box doesn't have to be as miserable as it sounds — especially if it's on a luxury cruise ship with stops in Hawaii, Peru, and Australia.

In early January 2027, Carnival Corp's high-end, all-inclusive cruise brand, Seabourn, says its Seabourn Quest will embark on a 145-day voyage to 67 ports across 19 countries. The itinerary, sailing round-trip from Miami, primarily focuses on destinations throughout South America, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and the Southern Pacific islands — from Peru to Easter Island to a 37-day circumnavigation of Australia.

Of course, like any world cruise, travelers are expected to see more than a month's worth of sea days throughout the almost 34,000-nautical-mile journey. But no need to worry about going stir crazy — Quest has plenty of onboard amenities to help keep boredom at bay.

Seabourn operates some of its parent company, Carnival Corp's, most luxurious and expensive vacations at sea.

Seabourn has six ships; 13-year-old Quest is its second-oldest and smallest with a 458-guest capacity — "just the right amount for a world cruise," Crystal Morgan, Seabourn's senior director of deployment and itinerary planning, told Business Insider.

Expect to pay luxury prices for the luxury cruise. Per-person fares for the 2027 voyage currently range from $81,000 for an oceanview suite to a cool $380,070 per person for the Grand Wintergarden suite. And "grand" it is — the deluxe apartment-like accommodation spans two decks and includes a solarium, a dining table, and two bedrooms.

At least the cost includes laundry, round-trip flights, WiFi, and up to $10,000 in onboard credit per suite.

The teenage-aged Quest isn't ancient, as far as industry standards go.

The oldest vessel of its sister cruise line, Carnival, is 26 years old. But Quest is still relatively dated compared to the rest of Seabourn's fleet, which averages eight years old.

As such, expect some small design details reflecting its 2011 birth year, such as lower ceilings and some less-than-modern furniture.

Seabourn Quest has eight food and beverage options, from sushi in the Club lounge to afternoon tea and cocktails in the Observation bar.

The Colonnade operates as a breakfast and lunch buffet until nightfall, when it becomes a table-service restaurant with rotating international themes.

The indoor-outdoor restaurant is more casual than Solis, the ship's upscale Mediterranean-inspired restaurant.

Solis launched in early 2024 to replace a restaurant co-developed by famed chef Thomas Keller.

The modern dining room marries the upscale playfulness of a Virgin Voyages dining room with the seriousness of a fine-dining menu, complete with branzino and 32-ounce Tuscan-style porterhouse steak (both prepared tableside).

In addition to the poolside buffet and observation lounge, the ship offers traditional cruise amenities such as a spa, gym, theater, and casino.

For the intellectual traveler, Seabourn invites guest speakers — such as Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak and King Charles III's former butler, Grant Harrold — to give lectures at the theater.

For travelers who prefer to lounge under the sun, Quest also has a traditional pool deck and an onboard marina that opens directly onto the water.

The latter has become a popular amenity on competing ultra-luxury cruise ships, such as Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collections' Evrima.

Look for some of Quest's hidden gems, like the smaller pool flanked by two hot tubs.

Walk toward the bow and past the guest cabins on deck six to find the ship's fifth hot tub.

Or, stroll five decks up to find the quiet, staggered rows of lounge chairs.

It's a great place to read a book or nap under the sun.

Head to Seabourn Square if you've already finished all the books you prepared for the monthslong journey.

There, you can pick from a selection of books, puzzles, or caffeinated pick-me-ups from the coffee shop.

When you've completed the puzzles, the card room's fully stocked board game cabinet is a short walk away.

However, don't expect more kid-friendly activities than the board games and upper-deck shuffleboard. After all, most around-the-world cruisers are folks who have time for a 145-day vacation: retirees.

Or, spend your afternoon lounging around your private balcony. There's a good chance you'll have one, after all.

Quest has 229 cabins, ranging from 295 to 1,182 square feet. Most have balconies, which can add hundreds of additional square feet to the space.

The floating hotel rooms feature little touches of luxury, from the personalized in-suite bar to the walk-in closet.

It's certainly more luxurious than its parent company's eponymous cruise line, where paying for the cheapest accommodation means vacationing in a compact windowless cabin.

• Carnival Corp's luxury cruise line, Seabourn, announced a 2027 world cruise to 67 ports.
• A senior itinerary planning director explains what it takes to ideate these extended voyages.
• Her team considers factors such as weather patterns, geopolitical tensions, and fleetwide itineraries.

If you think planning a weeklong family vacation is hard, try organizing a five-month, around-the-world trip for 458 people.

For the everyday traveler, it may seem logistically impossible.

For Crystal Morgan, Seabourn's senior director of deployment and itinerary planning, it's just another day at work.

Morgan and her team are the driving force behind the luxury cruise line's annual around-the-world voyages. And as you might expect, ideating them is no easy feat.

Seabourn's recently announced 2027 world cruise is one of its most ambitious yet, spanning 145 days and almost 34,000 nautical miles. It plans to stop at 67 ports in 19 countries, with bucketlist destinations like Honolulu, Machu Picchu, and Bora Bora.

These voyages offer a convenient and comfortable way for travelers to see the world. But behind the scenes, designing them can be anything but smooth sailing.

"I think of itinerary planning as baking a cake," Morgan told Business Insider. "It's one part science, one part finesse. There have to be the right ingredients to go in, but how you decorate the cake is the kind of finesse when it comes to itinerary planning."

The framework

World cruises ideally commence in early January, when the industry is in a post-holiday lull and retired snowbirds become heat-seeking missiles. They're generally more than 100 days long — but they can't be too lengthy, or risk cutting into the peak summer season.

As for the ship, Seabourn plans to deploy its smallest ocean vessel, Seabourn Quest. Its 458-guest capacity is "just the right amount for a world cruise," Morgan said.

The floating resort is scheduled for several Caribbean cruises from Miami during the preceding holiday season. The world voyage will therefore sail round-trip from the popular Florida port, with fares currently ranging from $81,000 to $380,070 per person.

After setting the timing and ship framework, designing the rest of the itinerary becomes, to a certain extent, a plug-and-play game — with more limitations than you might expect.

The destinations

Deciding which destinations to visit isn't as simple as throwing darts at a map or checking #TravelTok for trending cities. Instead, Morgan's team considers factors such as weather patterns, Seabourn's global deployments, competing itineraries, and consumer surveys.

Ideally, the extended itinerary has a sensible geographic flow that balances sea days and ports that don't feel too repetitive or are only accessible to smaller ships like Seabourn's.

As such, the global voyage is scheduled to sail south and westward to South America, Australia, and New Zealand before returning through Hawaii, Los Angeles, and Mexico. Throughout its transoceanic crossings, Quest is also scheduled to visit several South Pacific islands.

None of Seabourn's ships are set to be stationed in Australia and New Zealand in early 2027 — two "extremely popular" destinations, according to Morgan. To fill this demand, the global voyage plans to spend 35 days circumnavigating Australia.

Other ports, especially those in larger cities, are as desirable as necessary. Take Papeete, French Polynesia, for example. It's a hot destination, but more than that, it's also where the ship can restock its fuel and food supply, according to Morgan.

If an attractive town doesn't make geographic sense or cuts into the time needed to reach a restocking port, it'll be nixed. As such, to ensure safety and feasibility, internal teams that oversee marine operations and supply chains also have a say in the long-haul itinerary.

"Everything's like a big puzzle," Morgan said. "The hardest part is crossing all the T's when it comes to the full operation and getting everyone to agree that operationally, what we're pushing through is the best experience."

External factors, such as predicted weather conditions and port availability, also impact the route. Small variables, like current trends, can even dictate the ship's speed and when it arrives and departs a particular port.

So too do geopolitical tensions — Seaboun's reason for skipping the Suez Canal.

"It's measuring that risk versus reward," Morgan said. "We've seen our competitors publish itineraries that do transit the Suez Canal, but as a company, right now, we're choosing not to."

With all these layers, it should be no surprise that creating and approving the itinerary took 1½ years, with several months spent on itinerary ideation and review alone, according to Morgan.

Yet, believe it or not, she does think planning a family vacation is more difficult.

• Meta's Reality Labs exceeded nearly all its 2024 sales and user targets, an internal memo said.
• In the memo, seen by BI, Meta's CTO said 2024 was "pivotal" for Reality Labs.
• The executive said Meta has seen "massive sales growth in wearables" and its Quest brand is strong.

Meta's Reality Labs beat nearly all its sales and user targets for 2024, Business Insider has learned.

The company's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, announced Reality Labs grew 2024 sales by 40%, according to an internal memo seen by BI.

Bosworth announced a reorganization in the post, shared on Meta's Workplace internal forum, while giving employees insight into the division's performance.

"2024 was a pivotal year for Reality Labs and positioned us for greatness in 2025," Bosworth wrote.

"The team beat nearly all of last year's aggressive sales and user goals, growing RL sales >40% YoY overall," he added. "We are seeing massive sales growth in wearables and the Quest brand has never been stronger."

On Christmas Day, the company's Horizon app, which users must download to set up Meta's Quest virtual-reality headsets, was the top free app on Apple's App Store in the US and the UK, which suggested strong holiday demand.

Bosworth added that the Reality Labs Business Group, the division that was led by Reality Labs COO Dan Reed, was a "major part" of setting the company up for the future.

Meta didn't respond to a request for comment.

Meta's Reality Labs division has been under scrutiny as it continues to incur substantial losses due to heavy investments in augmented-reality technology. Since 2020, Meta has recorded losses of more than $50 billion from the group.

Meta CFO Susan Li said in a recent earnings call that Meta planned to continue to invest significantly in Reality Labs, which Li said was a "strategic long-term priority."

Meta is scheduled to announce fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

In the third quarter, Reality Labs reported operating losses of $4.4 billion. The division's revenue for that quarter rose 29% year on year to $270 million.

Do you work for Meta? Got insight to share? Contact the reporter Jyoti Mann via Signal at jyotimann.11 or via email at [email protected]. Reach out from a nonwork device.

• Meta's Horizon app topped Apple's App Store on Christmas Day, signaling strong VR headset demand.
• Quest headsets, starting at $299, are gaining mainstream traction in virtual reality.
• Despite strong demand, Meta's Reality Labs faces significant financial losses.

Meta's virtual reality ambitions got a Christmas boost this year.

On Christmas Day, the company's Meta Horizon app, which users must download to set up the Quest virtual reality headsets developed by Meta, was the top free app in Apple's App Store in the US and the UK, indicating strong holiday demand.

Meta has never disclosed how many Quest headsets it has sold. The surge in app downloads suggests that the Quest is solidifying its status as one of the most mainstream VR headsets. The devices, which start at $299 and are developed by Meta's Reality Labs division, are a relatively affordable gateway to virtual and mixed-reality experiences. They let people watch movies on giant virtual screens, play immersive games, and even work out.

Meta did not respond to a request for comment about Quest sales from Business Insider.

Quest competes with VR headsets from other companies, including Sony, HTC, and Apple, although Apple's Vision Pro headset costs much more, at $3,500.

Meta has been working to make VR more accessible to a broader audience. In October, the company launched the Quest 3S, a less expensive version of the more advanced Quest 3, priced at $299 — $200 less than the standard model. Like the Quest 3, the 3S lets people experience mixed reality in full color, making it a compelling entry point for VR newcomers.

Meta's quarterly revenue from Reality Labs, which includes $299 Ray-Ban glasses that let people take pictures and talk to Meta's AI chatbot, was $270 million — an increase of 29% compared to the same quarter the year before, the company announced in October.

Still, Reality Labs continues to bleed money. In the third quarter of 2024, Meta reported that Reality Labs lost $4.4 billion, up from $3.7 billion in the same quarter of 2023. For the first nine months of 2024, Reality Labs lost nearly $13 billion, Meta's earnings report said, and the company has warned investors that it expects the division to lose even more money.

"Overall, I'd say Reality Labs is clearly one of our strategic long-term priorities," said Susan Li, Meta's chief financial officer, responding to a question about Reality Labs' losses on the earnings call. She added that Meta expects it to "be an area of significant investment as we build out towards the very ambitious product road map that we have there."

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has remained bullish on the company's VR strategy. On the call, Zuckerberg highlighted the company's strong demand for its Ray-Ban glasses and expressed optimism about Orion, an early prototype of its glasses that superimpose digital elements onto the real world.

"We're not too far off from being able to deliver great-looking glasses that let you seamlessly blend the physical and digital worlds," Zuckerberg said on the earnings call.

Unlike the Meta Horizon app for Quest headsets, Meta View, the app for setting up the Ray-Ban glasses, however, isn't on the App Store's top charts.

Aimed at maintaining well-being, Sing is a VR app that you can sing out loud with when you're home alone.

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.