With New 3D Avatars, Meta Is One Step Closer Toward Creating Metaverse

Meta is debuting Bitmoji-like cartoon 3D avatars across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram (Stories and Direct Messages) as part of its daring mission to evolve into a metaverse. For now, the option will only be available to users living in the United States, Canada, and Mexico who can create virtual avatars in the form of stickers, publish those in the feed, and set them as profile photos.

Meta's 3D avatars will look much like Bitmoji, animated creations that Snapchat users identify within cyberspace. The new three-dimensional virtual manifestations will not only boast real-life emotions, accurate facial features, and natural skin tones but will also be able to supply themselves with various assistive devices like cochlear implants or BTE hearing aids if that is what their users feel they need to do for a more authentic self-representation.

With the handy consumer feature, Accounts Center, users can control their social media profiles across various Meta platforms at once. Those with a setup Accounts Center can use the tool to synchronize their avatar so that changes made to it on Instagram would automatically mirror on FB or Messenger and the other way around. Users looking for more varied experiences can opt to have a different 3D avatar for each of the three platforms.

The ability to use the same 3D virtual image of yourself all across Meta is an essential first step toward building the metaverse – the company’s long-term project, which envisages transforming this social media platform into a collective virtual shared place inhabited by avatars. 

Have you tried the new feature yet? How much more realistic do the new avatars look? Do you share Mark Zuckerberg's enthusiasm for metaverses? Speak your mind in the comments below!