Take a selfie, check, avatar is up. That’s pretty much how it will soon be on WhatsApp. In the future, the messenger will be able to create avatars using a single photo. This first version can then be further revised and personalized.
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The function of creating an avatar in this way is now available worldwide. At the moment, however, it seems to be a little jerky, as our test shows. The avatars are intended to help communicate with each other in a completely new way, writes WhatsApp in a press release. Avatars have been around in Meta’s services for a while. What is new is the way in which they are created. So far, you have to create the avatar on WhatsApp manually in many small steps. First the skin color, then the hairstyle, the hair color and the outfit.
To create a photo avatar, you have to go to the messenger settings, select “Avatar” under the profile name, then click “Create avatar” and off you go, provided you allow the service to use the camera. Once you have taken a photo of yourself, you continue with detailed settings where you can also change the skin color and other things. “The photo will not be used for any other purpose and will be released immediately for deletion,” writes WhatsApp in the blog post.
Avatars for various services
How good the result is varies quite a bit, but it tends to be better than with Microsoft Teams. Snapchat also has a function where you can create an avatar using a selfie. This has been working pretty well for a long time.
In the meta universe, Bitmoji-like avatars were initially available for Facebook and Instagram, and later for Messenger and WhatsApp. According to WhatsApp, there are more than a billion avatars.
Avatars can be used as profile pictures or stickers in Messenger itself. You can also use the images to react to status reports, for example. If you send a picture of your avatar to others, they can react to it with an emoji.
(emw)