Meta Launches a Sort of Bitmoji on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp

3D avatars. Have we seen it somewhere? Yes, exactly. What Meta is now attempting to introduce is much like Bitmoji by Snapchat. From previously used personalized 2D avatars, Meta is going to a more advanced digital representation of a person that will relevantly represent it in the digital 3D environment.

The new avatars will be more realistic than before. Expressions, skin colors and tones, movements – everything got improved in Meta’s take on the idea. In addition, it allows adding assistive devices, like hearing aids or wheelchairs, as elements of visual personalization (of course they are not designed as functional in the Metaverse). These avatars can be used in Instagram stories and DM, and also as… hmm… avatars on Facebook and WhatsApp.

In the Metaverse, these 3D avatars will have some extra abilities. For example, any user that has accounts in all three major media (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) will be able to sync the avatar across all these platforms. 3D avatars are not exclusive to Snapchat at the moment. At least, Apple has similar personalized emoji as a system feature of iOS for years. But what Meta attempts to create is much more universal, given the ambitious concept of Metaverse itself.

Ahead of all, these 3D avatars will become available to users in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. After that, the feature will gradually roll out for the rest of the world. Having the same avatar based on your real appearance in VR and traditional social media is just one step to understanding what Metaverse will mean for us in terms of merging the two realities.

Have you already created your 3D avatar? Are you satisfied with the way it looks? And do you think it’s a good beginning for the Metaverse in 2022? Share your opinion in the comments, even though we don’t have 3D avatars so far!