San Francisco, Feb 1 (IANS): In a bid to offer people more ways to express themselves as their avatars, Meta has announced that it is rolling out updated 3D Avatars to Facebook and Messenger, and for the first time Instagram Stories and DMs.

The company said that people in the US, Canada and Mexico can show up as their virtual self across apps via stickers, feed posts, Facebook profile pictures and more.

"We have been hard at work since then, expanding Avatars so that they better reflect the billions of unique people on this planet," Aigerim Shorman, General Manager for Avatars and Identity, said in a blogpost.

"Today we are taking that further, adding new facial shapes and assistive devices for people with disabilities," Shorman added.

The update adds Cochlear implants and over-the-ear hearing aids in a variety of colours, and on all platforms including VR. It also includes wheelchairs, which will appear in stickers.

It will also be adding limited-time shirts for NFL fans to outfit their avatars in and celebrate their favourite teams.

"Virtual reality (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," said Shorman.

"Rolling out avatars across our platforms is an early step towards making this a reality," Shorman added.

With the new update, users will be able to show up as avatar in their Facebook profile picture and comments, stickers, stories and more.