Meta Rolls Out More Improved VR Avatars to Instagram.

The world is gonna be on Meta and the Meta company releases new VR Avatars to make a place in the Metaverse.

The metaverse is coming – not now, and not for some time yet, but it is evolving, and as per the name, Meta is keen to take ownership of that next stage, and ensure that it remains relevant in the future iteration of the web as we know it.

The company formerly known as Facebook is "adding new facial shapes and assistive devices for people with disabilities" to VR avatars on several of its services.

Meta says that Facebook users in the US, Canada, and Mexico "can show up as their virtual self across apps via stickers, feed posts, Facebook profile pictures and more," starting today. The company is also rolling out the VR avatars to Instagram for the first time via Stories and DMs.

It seems that everything related to VR must be connected to the so-called metaverse—from which the company took its new name—as well. Meta says in the announcement: "VR and Quest are key parts of our metaverse vision, but we see the metaverse as an interconnected digital world, one that bridges VR and AR, in addition to more familiar platforms like your phone and computer.

Rolling out avatars across our platforms is an early step towards making this a reality. We hope your new virtual self enables you to be represented online the way you want — whether that’s to friends and family, your local community or beyond."

Meta says today's update introduces Cochlear implants, over-the-ear hearing aids, and wheelchairs for VR avatars. (Not all of the assistive devices can be used in all places on all of its platforms, though, and Meta offers more details in its announcement.)

The company says it's also "subtly adjusted certain facial shapes and tweaked our skin shaders to make your avatar more authentically you" and will "continue to add new items to the Avatar editor" throughout 2022. It's also shared this before-and-after of an avatar with the changes:

A side-by-side comparison of Meta's updated VR avatars.

As you can see in this image, Meta’s new 3D avatars have more refined features and customization options to make them look more like the actual people that they represent, while Meta’s also adding more inclusive customization features, including Cochlear implants, hearing aids and wheelchairs, giving more users the ability to represent themselves in its apps.

Meta is celebrating the Super Bowl, too, by introducing the ability to adorn these VR avatars with jerseys supporting the Cincinnati Bengals or Los Angeles Rams until Feb. 28. People whose favourite teams didn't make it to the game can also wear a generic Super Bowl LVI shirt.

Meta’s working now to embed itself into that shift. And given its reach and presence, and its capacity to facilitate connection with custom avatar tools, this could be an important step.

Meta’s new 3D avatar tools are now available to users in the US, Canada, and Mexico.