Snapchat is taking additional steps to up the inclusivity factor of its Bitmoji avatars. On that note, Snapchat is adding new types of assistive devices for their Bitmoji characters.
As Snapchat explains:
“Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve expanded our representation options by adding the top three most requested assistive devices to Bitmoji and Snapchat: hearing aids, cane stickers, and wheelchair poses for Profiles. Now, in the latest version of Snapchat, our community can see themselves in 3D poses with a wheelchair on their Profile – or choose a hearing aid in a variety of colors, with flexible options to be worn on one ear or both. We’ve also added a selection of our most popular Bitmoji stickers featuring the avatar with a cane.”
It would seem that Snapchat has deemed inclusion an important step for Bitmoji development, especially when you consider its vision of Bitmoji characters becoming ‘The World’s Avatar’. If it manages to pull this off, then that means Bitmojis would be able to take on broader applications – even those that take them beyond Snapchat.
Giving Some Assistance
Digital avatars are no doubt among the critical elements of the coming Metaverse shift.
The vision is that, eventually, we will all be represented by character depictions in AR and VR environments. While Bitmoji has primarily been a 2D option up until now, Snapchat has been looking to adapt the tool to enable people to use their Bitmoji avatars within these new digital worlds.
This would also tie into Snap’s evolving efforts to facilitate increased sales of digital clothing, providing retailers with new ways to promote their products through virtualizations able to be fitted by Bitmoji characters. For now, this largely aligns with the sale of real-world items – you essentially ‘Try-On’ clothes that you’d like in real life on your Bitmoji, while Snap integrates buying options into these items to facilitate offline purchase.
In time, digital clothing will become its own marketplace and Snap’s already well advanced in its plans to enable retailers to sell virtual items within its platform, which then ties in once more to inclusion, specifically in providing more comprehensive options to create your virtual self.
The Wrap
When it comes to results, Snapchat already reports the increasing success of its new options – its stickers depicting Bitmoji characters in wheelchairs, launched last March, have already been shared over 30 million times. In Snap’s words:
“Through the launch of these stickers, we’ve seen positive reactions and engagement with our products, and received additional feedback from people who wanted to see themselves in more parts of Snapchat.”
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