Google’s refreshed emoji designs left many wondering if AI generation was involved, but Android 17’s 3D emoji are, in fact, “hand-modeled.”
Emoji Kitchen chef Jennifer Daniel confirmed in a post on Instagram that the new 3D emoji coming to Android 17 (and other Google properties) are not AI-generated. Rather, they’re “hand-modeled” and “true 3D objects,” explaining:
Today we shared a sneak peak of our new hand-modeled 3D emoji (!!!!!!) YES THEY ARE ACTUALLY TRUE 3D OBJECTS!!!!! Our favorite characters now have the same depth of your very real thoughts and feelings.
The post also contains a corrected version of the emoji preview grid that Google shared with 9to5Google and other members the press ahead of yesterday’s news, where certain emoji such as the cat smirking are fixed. There were a few oddities in that original side-by-side comparison.
Existing (L) vs Android 17 (R)
