This year we have been able to see how Meta has deployed its avatars through Facebook and Instagram, offering its own alternative to Apple and Snap Memojis and Bitmojis, respectively, among other similar options available.
According to a report that indicates novelties introduced in the beta version of WhatsApp, this function will eventually be extended to this messaging application, allowing them to be used in video calls as a replacement for what the camera captures, as Facetime already allows in certain iPhone models.
An avatar as an alternative to the camera, what WhatsApp prepares
There are times when it is not comfortable to use the camera during a video call. The simple option in these cases is to simply opt to deactivate it, but in the case of WhatsApp, a new alternative could soon be available for these cases.
A recently published WaBetaInfo report indicates that WhatsApp developers are working on implementing an option to use an avatar during a video call to replace the video captured by the camera.
Although the report that reveals this novelty, identified in version 2.22.15.5 beta for Android, does not share images of what these avatars would look like, it can be presumed that they will be like those already known on Facebook and Instagram, given the familiarity between both apps . However, to demonstrate the existence of this function, the report shows a screenshot showing a button during a video call that indicates “Switch to avatar” (toggle through an avatar).
Capture: WaBetaInfo
The name change from Facebook’s parent company to Meta is a statement of the turn the company has taken towards prioritizing the metaverse they seek to build.
Based on what is currently known about this proposal, the avatars that can already be used on Facebook and Instagram and soon also on WhatsApp, could be extrapolated to this virtual world in which, precisely, the presence of its participants materializes through an avatar.
Conveniently for Meta, little by little they begin to introduce us to the experiences in which they work, offering in the process a solution for a daily inconvenience at this point: the displeasure with the use of the camera in certain instances.
