Microsoft Teams Users Can Use 3D Avatars In Video Calls Starting May 2023

Microsoft Teams will add 3D avatars. (photo: dock. microsoft)

JAKARTA - Microsoft Teams will add 3D avatars that users can use when making video calls. The avatar will be introduced in May 2023.

According to the Microsoft 365 roadmap with the ID 107969 feature, this avatar is a way to be visually present in video meetings without really showing the user's face.

Avatar Teams features people as 3D models. This model is then minimized using only sound as a signal, meaning users no longer need to sit in front of the webcam.

Microsoft has also touted options and adjustment reactions. Teams Avatars were first announced in November 2021.

At the time, the company noted users who prefer non-robotic interactions between avatars could activate interactive methods such as eye contact and direct reactions. This 3D avatar is supported by Mesh (MR) mixed reality platform.

The company showed the character-making process in October 2022. Teams avatar makers can customize faces, hair, makeup, and model clothes, such as video games, as quoted from Evening Standard, Wednesday, March 15.

Over the past few months, this feature, called Microsoft as Personal Preview, has only been accessible to those who are members of the Teams Technology Adoption Program, which requires the signing of the NDA. This is not a standard public beta that anyone can try.

This avatar feature is part of Teams Premium, which was launched in the United States (US) as a $10 subscription per month in February. It is not yet known for sure whether Microsoft will launch it globally.