Google has open-sourced its 3D emoji set to mark World Emoji Day, releasing raw .OBJ files so developers, hobbyists and artists can freely use and adapt the models. The move follows the debut of the company's Noto Emoji 3D collection in May, and gives outsiders access to Google's design work rather than keeping it proprietary, in a move that could encourage wider creative and technical use of the pictograms.

Google says the files could be used to build "immersive VR worlds, indie apps or weird memes," alongside sharing some insight into the design challenges of turning flat emoji into 3D forms, such as deciding whether a smiley face should be a sphere, a mask or a flat disc. The original Noto Emoji 3D designs received a mixed reception when unveiled in May.