Metaverse Mania: Facebook Debuting 3D Avatars To Messaging, Instagram

It seems Meta Platforms Inc. has lived up to its name.

The parent company to Facebook is adding 3D avatars to its direct messaging platforms and Instagram stories in a continued effort to shift into a "metaverse." The tech giant announced Monday that consumers in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada can take advantage of this feature, The Verge noted.

The metaverse is what tech experts refer to as virtual worlds, with the term gaining widespread popularity after Facebook rebranded itself as Meta in October 2021.

The avatars formerly featured on Facebook were two dimensional, but are now being updated to include 3D characters. The new avatars have more life-like appearances and will include skin tones.

“We're updating Meta avatars with a lot more expressions, faces and skin tones, as well as wheelchairs and hearing aids,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. “We're starting to experiment with digital clothing too, including official NFL shirts you can wear for the Super Bowl. You can use your avatar across Quest, Facebook, Instagram and Messenger."

Other notable companies such as Apple have also expressed interest in the metaverse, as CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the company is “investing accordingly” into digital worlds, envisioning various possibilities within the realm.

"One day you'll have multiple avatars ranging from expressive to photorealistic," Zuckerberg said. "Looking forward to sharing more soon.”