You can always rely on Meta to ask the really important questions. The ones like: ‘If you haven’t called your friends as a llama, have you really even lived?’ Not ‘Have you called a friend of yours “a” llama?’, but “as” a llama…Okay, let’s elaborate and sort things out.
Meta is giving Messenger and Instagram users access to real-time calling with Meta Avatars. So, if your avatar is a llama, now you get to call as a llama. Nice and simple. Zuckerberg’s company claims that avatars could come handy for all those times a user is not ready for an incoming call: ‘A call comes in but your hair looks like a hot mess’, for example. That’s apparently the third option, sitting in between camera-off and camera-on. That’s how you make yourself kind of present on the call. Messenger and Instagram users can use Meta avatars on both Android or iOS, ‘we’re phone agnostic’, Meta points out. There's a demo video that you can check out at Meta's newsroom page.
There’s animated stickers, too
There’s the option to make dynamic stickers, too. ‘Avatar stickers have always been a great way to liven up a conversation, but sometimes a static image just feels a little… flat’, confesses Meta. That’s why now the stickers can be made to move and thus to express richer, clearer emotions. When you give someone the thumb, or you ‘facepalm’ to an embarrassing story, you actually get to see the motion behind these important gestures.You can share animated avatar stickers in Instagram and Facebook Stories and Reels, Facebook comments, and 1:1 message threads on Messenger and Instagram.
Tag your friends’ avatars
Meta is regarding avatar stickers a ‘social activity’, much like selfies. ‘@Tagging lets you add a few friends to Facebook Stories, so you and your friends’ avatars can hang out and do things together in the metaverse just like you do IRL (in real life). And you can share your social stickers of you and a single friend in 1:1 message’, reads their announcement message.
Okay, how do I turn myself into an avatar?
Meta is testing a new feature on Facebook and WhatsApp where users take a live selfie and right away the app presents you with a suggested avatar option generated from your selfie. You can pick from these options and further personalize them to best represent yourself, making avatar creation much easier and faster. ‘This is a long-term process, so we’ll keep testing, refining, and improving this feature over time’, promises Meta.
Ryu or Chun-Li, the choice is yours
Meta has further expanded its Avatars Store, bringing six Valentino outfits. Valentino might not capture smartphone users’ attention, but Meta’s partnership with Capcom surely will. Meta is bringing to the Avatars Store styles of various characters in Street Fighter 6, like Chun-Li and Ryu.
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