ALBAWABA - Meta announced that users can now use avatars in video calls in Messenger and Instagram. The new feature allows users to participate in video calls without appearing on camera, but instead through their own avatar image, which will be animated and mimic the user's movements and gestures in real-time, such as facial expressions and mouth movements.
This new feature is a welcome addition for people who do not want to show their faces during video calls or when receiving those calls at inappropriate times. It also provides an alternative to voice-only communication.
This feature is similar to using Memoji avatars from Apple in video calls through the FaceTime app. The ability to make video calls through avatars is now available on Messenger and Instagram for Android and iOS, provided that both applications are updated to the latest available version. Meta has also introduced a feature for animated avatar stickers, which allows users to create many animated stickers from their own avatar image to use in comments on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, in addition to stories and Reels.
Meta said that it is unifying the way avatars appear across its virtual reality platform and various applications, and added that the standard appearance will make the images look more realistic than before.
Microsoft had officially announced the launch of the avatar feature in its video conferencing application Teams, but it is not available to users of the free version, only to those with paid plans at the moment.
