Meta Offers Video Calling with Cartoon Avatars
Video calling is generally not favored by many individuals, unless it involves special occasions like meeting a baby for the first time. The hassle of having to groom oneself just to answer a call is not appealing. However, Meta has come up with a solution by introducing a set of tools that incorporate cartoon avatars into video conferencing.
The company defines this as a “third option” that rests between a voice-only call and a full video call. You can participate in video chats, but it’s your avatar that other participants see, leaving you free to wear a fancy face mask or lie in the squalor of an untidy apartment. The feature is now available for Messenger and Instagram users.
Meta has continued to focus on its avatar creation system and recently announced that users have made over a billion cartoon spoofs. The avatar creator enables an almost perfect digital simulacrum of your real face and body. The system was originally created for VR applications, but has since moved to smartphones and the like.
It’s worth noting that Avatar Creator lets you attach some legs to your digital self, but those legs won’t be visible when making video calls (sorry, digital foot fetishists.) Meta says they’re constantly working on improving the avatar creation system. more realistic and textured animations coming in the future. There’s also no rule that your digital avatar has to look like you, so feel free to video call your friends as a talking llama.
