If the company formerly known as Facebook is going to help create the metaverse, it will need consistent virtual personalities across its apps — and now it has just that, according to an engadged report.
Starting today, Meta is rolling out updated 3D avatars to Facebook, Messenger and Instagram (via DMs and Stories), and a new design lets you bring the same avatar across Meta platforms, including VR — and you can keep your look while you switch to Quest 2 and back. .
The same avatars promise to be truer to your style with more faces, skin tone and expressions, you can also add cochlear implants, airborne hearing aids and wheelchairs, Meta has also become more adventurous with clothing, and now you can choose the NFL uniforms to show off your love football before the Super Bowl.
And you can still create different avatars for Facebook, Instagram and VR, so you can have a more realistic personality for VR meetings and a more imaginative personality for your social media profiles.
Meta also promises to “finally” simplify your animated avatars across places, and actually lets you sync avatar changes between Facebook and Instagram.
Meta acknowledged that unified avatars were an “early step” in creating the metaverse, and this doesn’t suddenly create a truly cohesive and immersive digital space, it’s a start if nothing else, it provides consistency that might encourage you to experiment with an avatar rather than stick with your favorite one.