Optical apparatus and instruments, namely, metasurface lenses and polarization-sensitive optical elements integrated with image sensors for capturing three-dimensional facial data; three-dimensional imaging cameras and optical sensors using polarized light for capturing facial geometry, edges, and surface material properties; downloadable computer software and firmware for generating, processing, and rendering three-dimensional facial models from polarization-based images; downloadable software for creating, animating, and rendering digital face avatars; downloadable computer software for operating and controlling polarization-sensitive image sensors for three-dimensional facial imaging.