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We have all had a meeting one day when we did not have our best face. On those days, knowing how to activate avatars in Zoom video calls can be your salvation.
Avatars are a new feature launched by Zoom that let you display an animated image instead of your face in meetings . This will make gatherings much more fun, and also help you hide the ravages of a bad night (or one that's too good).
Thus, avatars replace your appearance with an animated animal But this will not make you lose non-verbal language, since these characters will follow your head movements and facial expressions. In this way, you will be able to interact with the other people who participate in the video call in a much more fun way. Something that may not have a reason to be in a meeting that is too serious, but that can be ideal, for example, for classes or for informal meetings, since it gives a much more fun air.
They can also be an intermediate point for interlocutors who do not want to appear on camera, but do want to express their expressions and body language.
Although the avatars feature is capable of recognizing your face shape and features such as eyes, nose, and mouth to create the desired effect, the feature does not use facial recognition and will not storeno data relating to your face or facial features, so privacy should not be a concern for you.
While it may seem like a fun feature rather than a practical one, there are many situations where it can be an interesting option. For example, in the case of pediatric care or psychological care with small children, it can be a way of reaching the youngest. It may also be a good choice if you are a science teacher teaching a class on animals.
How to choose your avatar in Zoom
If you are wondering how to choose your avatar in Zoom, the steps you must follow to activate this function and choose the one that best suits you like are as follows:
- Enter the Zoom app and access a meeting or call
- Make sure your webcam is on and video streaming is enabled
- On the meeting toolbar, open the video options by selecting the up arrow next to the video icon.
- Select the Choose Virtual Background or Choose Video Filter option.
- Navigate to the Avatars tab and choose your avatar.
If at any point during the meeting you got tired of your avatar and thought about using another, just revisit the Avatar taband choose a new one. And when you want to remove the filter, within the tab itself you will find an option called None. From your self-display video tile in a meeting you can also choose the Disable avatar option to remove it.
At the moment you can only choose between animal avatars But it is a function that has just arrived on Zoom, and it is expected that with over time we can find new options.To access them, we recommend keeping the application always up to date.
Of course, for now you should keep in mind that this function is available for Windows desktop devices and macOS, as well as in iOS mobile devices.
It is also important that you know that you must have version 5.10.0 or higher to be able to access this avatar function. In the event that you have an older version, it will be essential that you update to be able to enjoy this new function. Although it may not seem very useful in serious work environments, it is a lot of fun and can liven up a little more informal meetings.
