When your friend sends you a little character waving and that character looks like a cross between her and The Simpsons? Honey, that's an incarnation and it's taking over. An avatar is a graphical representation of a user, but as we move into the metaverse we may find more and more avatarization options. Soon, these avatars will subscribe to Goop and take vacations to the outer metaspace (which is exactly the same as the regular metaverse, just more pretentious). So many, how do you choose? And - more importantly - what should they wear? Read our guide for tips on how to accessorize every type of avatar.
bitmogis
Ogg! A customizable full-body avatar that looks like you. You can customize and use Bitmoji in tons of different apps - Snapchat, iChat, GChat... all chats. All social media apps. Let’s be honest, Bitmoji are pretty cute. They can wave and smile, and you can dress them in something simple like a baseball cap. Avatar should stop here.
Memoji
Memoji builds on Bitmoji by using Apple's Face ID system to bring your avatar closer to your face, which means the avatars can be paired with very realistic pimples. You can get these in the Apple SMS app. Don't get too carried away, though—today, it's free, but tomorrow, it's the only way to transfer contacts from your old phone, and it'll cost $1,300.
friends emoji
This is Bitmoji for two people! If your friend has Bitmoji, then you can combine two of them into a Friendmoji. According to the programmers who developed these emojis, Friendmoji are basically two people standing side by side, which is what friends do. These avatars can be paired with friendship face tattoos since only the face is visible.
Cypherpunk
Now we get into the super meta… the cryptocurrency incarnation . CryptoPunks basically launched an NFT, and for that, they're very sorry (well, they didn't, but if they were polite, they would). Unlike most avatars, CryptoPunk has a monetary value - no two avatars are exactly the same, so if you have a good avatar, someone will probably pay you a fortune. I say "pennies" because they will be paid in cryptocurrencies, and we may soon be measuring their value in 1-cent and 5-cent denominations. In my opinion, they're not as aesthetically pleasing as the other incarnations - they look almost like digital renderings of Lego bricks. Any accessories you add will add to the uniqueness of your avatar, but since we're going punk here, may I recommend a pink mohawk?
Mibit
Meebits is an Ethereum-based NFT incarnation. Ethereum is basically hipster Bitcoin, which means your Meebit might be wearing a fedora. These are 3D avatars rendered in voxels (pixels with volume...duh) to make the rendering more realistic for the user. It's just that everything about them is square, so unless you've spent your life in a CrossFit gym and ground your chin to a pulp, they don't look much like you. Meebits are impressively versatile and can be used to play games in both virtual universes and the real world.
Avatar
Another NFT-based avatar, you can generate an avatar before purchasing to ensure you get the one you want. Yes, because the ugly nose is the most compelling reason not to invest in NFTs. These look more like creepy dolls than other NFT avatars like Lego — they fit in with the unicorn aesthetic common in the Ethereum community. Because you have a choice, dress it up with some Botox.
Microsoft metaverse avatar
Remember Microsoft? Well, it has entered the Metaverse race. Just last month, Microsoft announced that users can use its 3D Metaverse avatars in Teams, Microsoft's conferencing software, and that your avatar will actually look like you, except through the uncanny valley. If I remember correctly, these avatars look like The Sims 3-5. I've only used Teams at work, but I do like the idea of not having to look at my coworkers' faces, so I'd say I agree. Equip this avatar with light-colored sunglasses in black and blue to best hide you from sleeping during the meeting.
Facebook codec avatar
These incarnations are known to be more lifelike than their previous incarnations, which is ironic since Facebook as a company is notorious for draining the energy out of so many of us. But let’s be honest, Facebook tries to brag that you can see the pores on their profile picture, like that’s a good thing so you’d better pair it with some concealer.
