Terms of Use

Last updated: March 20th, 2026

1. Use of Avatars for the Masses

Avatars for the Masses is a research tool provided by TU Dortmund University. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable license to use the avatars generated by Avatars for the Masses solely for academic, educational, or non-commercial research purposes. Use of the service for commercial, entertainment, promotional, or production-related purposes is strictly prohibited. You may not sell, license, sublicense, distribute, or otherwise exploit the avatars or related outputs for commercial gain. Any use outside of research activities must receive prior written approval from TU Dortmund University.

2. Eligibility and Institutional Access

Access to the Service is a privilege granted at the sole discretion of the administration.

• Institutional Email: To ensure the research integrity of the platform, users must register using an official email address issued by a recognized academic institution (e.g., .edu, .ac.uk) or a verified commercial research laboratory.
• Manual Approval: All registration requests are subject to manual review. We reserve the right to deny access to users providing generic (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo), personal, or unverifiable email addresses.
• Account Termination: We reserve the right to suspend or terminate access at any time if an affiliation can no longer be verified or if the provided research purpose is deemed outside the scope of this project.

3. Citation Requirement

If you use any avatars generated by our Service in a publication (e.g., academic papers, articles, presentations), you agree to properly cite the following paper:

Menzel, T., Wolf, E., Wenninger, S., Spinczyk, N., Holderrieth, L., Wienrich, C., Schwanecke, U., Latoschik, M. E., & Botsch, M. (2025). Avatars for the Masses: Smartphone-based Reconstruction of Humans for Virtual Reality. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 6, 1583474. https://doi.org/10.3389/frvir.2025.1583474

Failure to provide appropriate citation may result in revocation of access to Avatars for the Masses and follow-up to ensure proper attribution.

4. Prohibited Uses

You agree not to use the avatars or Avatars for the Masses in any way that:

• Is harmful, abusive, defamatory, harassing, or degrading to individuals or groups;
• Promotes hate speech, violence, discrimination, or illegal activity;
• Involves deepfakes, impersonation, or misleading representations without clear context or consent;
• Violates applicable laws or regulations;
• Infringes upon the rights of others, including privacy, publicity, or intellectual property rights;
• Falls outside the scope of academic, educational, or non-commercial research purposes as defined above.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate access to Avatars for the Masses for any use we determine, at our sole discretion, to be inappropriate or in violation of these terms.

5. Intellectual Property

All underlying technology, methods, and intellectual property associated with Avatars for the Masses remain the property of TU Dortmund University. You are not granted any ownership rights by using Avatars for the Masses.

6. No Warranties

Avatars for the Masses is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. We do not guarantee that Avatars for the Masses will be error-free, uninterrupted, or secure.

7. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim any liability for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use Avatars for the Masses.

8. Changes to the Terms

We reserve the right to update or modify these Terms at any time. Your continued use of Avatars for the Masses after any changes indicates your acceptance of the new terms.

9. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. The place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with these Terms shall be Dortmund, Germany, provided that such a choice of jurisdiction is legally permissible.

10. Contact

For questions or concerns regarding these Terms, please contact us via email.