What you need to know
- Meta is updating its virtual reality user avatars with new facial features, hearing aids and implants, and wheelchairs.
- The 3D avatars will be expanding to use in Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram for specific countries starting today.
- The new avatars will replace previously made 2D Facebook avatars, but users can choose to create three different avatars across Facebook and Messenger, Instagram, and in virtual reality on Quest headsets.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today the company will be updating its 3D user avatars in VR and expanding them to use in Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. The new avatars that can be used in feed posts, stories, and as Facebook profile pictures will be rolling out within the apps starting today for people in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Quest 2 and Quest users will be familiar with the 3D avatars after receiving a customization overhaul last year, but have been updated again with more expressions, skin tones, and adjusted facial shapes. Meta Avatars can equip themselves with Cochlear implants and over-the-ear hearing aids in a variety of colors across all platforms, and in wheelchairs appearing through Facebook stickers, Messenger chats, and Instagram direct messages.
The company is also introducing more digital clothing options with Super Bowl LVI jerseys that your avatar can wear for a limited time on any platform. You can choose to wear a jersey between one of the two participating Super Bowl LVI teams or a neutral shirt from Feb. 13 until Feb. 28.
Facebook users who already created a 2D avatar will be replaced with the new 3D avatars, though can be modified after with the Avatar editor found through the Facebook menu, comments, or Messenger. Users can choose to sync their Meta Avatar across all platforms for a unified look, or create three different avatars to use for Facebook and Messenger, Instagram, and VR.
