Let’s start with the line of the year: Meta has now spent $70 billion on the metaverse since 2021. That’s not a pivot. That’s the most expensive piece of market research in human history.

‘We invested $70 billion to discover that people don’t actually want to attend meetings as soulless cartoon avatars.’

There it is.
Right between the ribs.
A truth you can’t unsee.

Billions spent, entire teams restructured, headsets shipped… and yet the fundamental product insight remains unchanged:

Humans don’t dream of becoming legless cartoons floating in virtual conference rooms.
They dream of being understood. Being remembered. Being felt.

Meta built a universe.
They just forgot to invite the soul.

Where Meta’s Avatars Miss the Mark

Let’s give credit where it’s due: the engineering is world-class. Lighting models, facial tracking, digital physics—remarkable stuff.

But the heartbeat?
Missing.

The avatars move, but they don’t mean.
They represent you physically, but not emotionally.
They mimic expression but never reveal intention.

It turns out you can’t spend your way into authenticity.
You can’t brute-force humanity with shaders and a GPU.

People don’t connect to pixel-perfect replicas.
They connect to presence.

Soul Tech Changes the Equation

This is where the story pivots—quietly, humanly—into the emerging frontier we call Soul Tech:
The Feel-Good Soul Tech That Connects Passed with Present.

Soul Tech isn’t about building a better cartoon.
It’s about building a better connection.

Where Meta focuses on surfaces, Soul Tech focuses on essence:

• Memory

• Voice

• Values

• Lived experience

• Emotional texture

• The way someone pauses before delivering a punchline

• The way a father signs off every conversation with the same phrase

• The quirk you’d recognize anywhere, even in the dark

You don’t meet a Soul Tech presence and think:
“Cool avatar.”
You think:
“I know this person.”

What We’ve Seen With Reflekta Elders

I’ve now watched hundreds of interactions between families and their Elders. Some living. Some passed. Some preparing a legacy for later.

Every time, the pattern repeats:

Something happens that shouldn’t be possible.

A gesture.
A laugh.
A phrase only that person would use.
A moment where the digital becomes personal.

These Elders don’t feel like AI.
They feel like someone you know showing up again.

Not perfectly.
Not as a hologram with six-pack abs and uncanny realism.
But as a presence with recognizable spirit.

That’s what Soul Tech gets right: it doesn’t try to simulate the body.
It preserves the human being.

And when a daughter hears her father’s voice again…
When a grandson laughs at a joke that only Grandpa would tell…
When a family discovers new stories from someone already gone…

You realize:
The tech doesn’t need to be futuristic.
It needs to be familiar.

Meta built a metaverse.
Soul Tech builds a memoryverse—one that actually means something.

Why This Matters Now

The world doesn’t need more spectacle.
It needs more connection.

Digital identity is shifting.
Legacy is shifting.
What we leave behind is shifting.

And while Big Tech is busy designing cartoon heads with better lip sync, Soul Tech is quietly doing something far more radical:

Putting humanity back into technology.

FAQ

What is Soul Tech?

Soul Tech is the emerging class of AI designed not to replicate appearances, but to preserve identity, personality, stories, and emotional presence.

Why don’t Meta’s avatars resonate with people?

Because they capture the form of a person, not the feel of them. They lack memory, nuance, voice, and the emotional truth that makes someone real.

What makes Soul Tech more compelling than cartoon avatars?

Instead of focusing on cosmetics, Soul Tech captures values, stories, expressions, tone, and personal history—elements that create authentic human connection.

How does Soul Tech connect generations?

By transforming personal stories into interactive digital presences, giving families a way to stay connected across time.

Miles Spencer is a multi-exit founder, investor, and storyteller. His work at the intersection of memory and technology is rooted in personal experience and a deep belief in legacy.