Meta Announces 3D Avatars to Instagram and Updates on Facebook and Messenger

On Monday, Meta announced the addition of 3D avatars to Instagram Stories and direct messages, as well as updates to the avatars in Facebook and Messenger.

With Meta’s platforms, including its Quest VR platform, users in the US, Canada, and Mexico can appear as their virtual selves on stickers, feed posts, Facebook profile pictures, and more.

According to Aigerim Shorman, Meta’s general manager for avatars and identification, To better serve users with disabilities, the new avatars will include assistive devices such as cochlear implants, hearing aids, and wheelchairs.

“Since revealing our long-term vision of the metaverse at Connect 2021, we’ve continued building out this next evolution of social technology, building towards a future where you can sit in the same room as loved ones who are actually thousands of miles away or work naturally with a talented team that spans the globe,” Shorman wrote.

The avatars are part of the company’s venture into the metaverse, which Shorman defined as an “interconnected digital world, one that bridges VR and AR but also more familiar platforms like your phone and computer.”