(Pocket-lint) – Memojis are pretty cool, but you can’t use them when you’re on a call on Zoom – but don’t worry, the virtual meeting company has ‘borrowed’ them.
Just like Memojis, the Zoom app avatars are artistic representations of your face for those times when you don’t really want everyone to actually see your real face. Whatever the reason, sometimes you just want to be visible without being seen. Now you can, with Zoom saying that there are multiple different customization options to make your avatar look just right.
Once set up, and just like Memojis, avatars will mimic your movements and facial expressions on the video call so that those you’re talking to can still get a feel for what you’re up to.
Zoom says that its new avatars are great for when you’re eating but don’t want anyone to see or just want to be able to present more dynamically than if you had your camera turned off or had a static profile picture. Finally, Zoom thinks that avatars would be a good way to make employee bonding sessions and onboarding more fun.
We’re not 100% sure about that last one, but the rest makes at least some sense. Right now Zoom avatars are in beta which means that you’ll need to be a paid customer to use them. But they’ll surely be available o everyone soon enough.
Other new features announced alongside avatars include meeting templates, threaded messages and reactions in chats, and a new Q&A feature for meetings.
Writing by Oliver Haslam.
