Google adopts 3D emoji for Android

Google has redesigned emojis on Android with a new generation of more realistic, three-dimensional emoji.

For this year's World Emoji Day, Google revealed new details about the development of Noto Emoji 3D, the new generation of emoji coming to Android. All 3,977 emoji have been redesigned with a three-dimensional look, maintaining an expressive and fun style that moves away from the "cartoonish" appearance of previous emoji.

The creation of the new emoji was accompanied by user studies to understand how small changes can affect how people communicate. The results showed, for example, that users prefer animals represented with full bodies rather than just heads, that adding too many extra elements makes comprehension harder, and that even subtle changes, like switching the direction of a wink, can alter the meaning of an expression.

The shift from 2D drawings to 3D models forced the team to answer several design questions, such as deciding what the back of an emoji—usually not visible—should look like. Google also developed a tool that automatically analyzes the contrast of each emoji to ensure they remain legible when darker skin tones are selected.

The new Noto Emoji 3D will debut first on Pixel smartphones and will later be available across all Google products. Additionally, all 3D models will be distributed as open source, allowing anyone to use or adapt them in their own projects. That being said, it is likely that many Android apps will stick with their own emoji rather than adopting these.