Zoom has just launched a new update that allows users to display themselves as cartoon characters in video meetings. Similar to Apple’s Memoji and humanoid cartoons, this new feature includes movements and facial expressions and is intended to bring some fun to less formal meetings. Users can choose to use this feature at times when they don’t feel like showing their own faces, such as while eating. It is currently available for beta testers but requires a paid account. In the future, Zoom plans to offer a wide range of facial features, hairstyles, and customization options as the beta testing continues.
In addition to the avatar feature, Zoom is also introducing templates for different types of meetings. These templates include options for large meetings (with automated captions and automatically recorded content), seminars (with tighter crowd control settings and disabled screen sharing), and K-12 classrooms (with enabled polls and quizzes and limited distracting features).
Another upcoming feature for Zoom is threaded messages and reactions for ongoing meetings. This feature, similar to those found in Slack, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage, will allow users to have conversations within the app during a meeting.
Finally, Zoom is also adding a Q&A feature for its members. This will allow the host to organize the meeting by confining questions to a specific area of the app. The host can choose to make all questions visible to members or only the answered questions. This feature requires a premium plan to use
In conclusion, Zoom’s new avatar feature and accompanying templates and Q&A feature will bring a new level of fun and organization to virtual meetings. The avatar feature allows users to represent themselves as cartoon characters, while the templates provide options for different types of meetings, and the Q&A feature allows for more efficient communication. These updates are sure to be a hit with Zoom users and will make virtual meetings even more enjoyable and productive.
