The Microsoft ecosystem obviously includes Xbox on the gaming side, but also Office on the office side and Teams for audio and video calls. Why are we talking about this application today? Maybe because our dear Xbox avatars could land on Teams shortly.
Avatars still long overdue on Xbox, but coming to Teams in May
Since the release of the Xbox One, the famous Xbox avatars have become more and more discreet in the Microsoft gaming universe despite the success they had on Xbox 360. For the youngest and those who have forgotten their existence, avatars represent each Xbox player and avatars represent each of your friends in the Xbox interface. A wide choice of customization was available and it made contact with Xbox friends intuitive, personalized and enjoyable.
Now, avatars still exist, but can only be seen by going to an Xbox gamer’s full profile. Not being highlighted as much as before, their use therefore no longer has any interest despite the fact that many players have been asking for their return for almost 10 years.
The most impatient will nevertheless be able to console themselves next May, because the avatars will return to the Teams application. It’s a Microsoft 365 roadmap which informs us that 3D avatars will be available to all Microsoft Teams users from May. Announced in 2021 by the Redmond firm, the feature was tested for a long time to finally be launched in two months.
On Teams, avatars will allow users to not appear in front of the camera by displaying their avatar in 3D. The latter will come to life based on the voice prompts it receives, without a camera. Katie Kelly, Senior Product Manager for Microsoft Mesh, said this to The Verge in 2021 :
“It’s not binary, so I can choose how I want to show up, whether it’s video or avatar, and there’s a variety of custom options to choose how you want to show up in a meeting. We are able to interpret your voice cues to animate this avatar, so that it feels present and is there with you. »
It’s not hard to imagine that Microsoft already has other larger plans that follow this momentum. The group is already planning to integrate these avatars into its immersive meetings in partnership with Meta. The goal would then be to deploy them on VR headsets.
