Zoom is launching a new Avatars feature, joining its other digital experience functions including virtual backgrounds, filters, and immersive scenes.
Similar to Apple’s Memojis, Avatars replace the user’s appearance with a virtual animal that mirrors head movements and facial expressions. Zoom sees Avatars as a fun feature to lighten the mood and a way to “provide a good middle ground for users who don’t want to appear on camera but still want to express body language and facial expressions.” Use cases suggested by the company include hybrid work, classrooms, pediatric consultations, and virtual events.
While the Avatars feature is able to track facial expressions, it does not utilize facial recognition, and images of each face are not stored or sent to Zoom.
The animal Avatars can now be used on Zoom, and steps to activate the feature can be found here.
Elsewhere in tech, DJI introduces its Matrice 30 enterprise drone.
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