Product Hunt Weekly Digest
January 7th, 2018

RIP emojis. The future of communication.
A few months ago, singing cats, unicorns, and turds filled our social feeds: Apple had launched the iPhone X, the TrueDepth camera, and Animoji. The future had arrived.

These animated characters is a preview of our immersive avatar future, an evolution of digital self-expression and communication. The OASIS isn't far away. 😉



In the early days of the internet, online communities were text-based. We hung out on bulletin boards, IRC channels, and on AIM (RIP). As broadband and smartphones became more accessible, that’s dramatically changed.

Existing platforms, like Twitter and Messenger, adopted photos, GIFs, and stickers. Newer entrants like Instagram and Snapchat flourished as visual mediums, eventually introducing face filters, inspiring a waves of rainbow throw-up around the world. 🌈

The next evolution of communication will be driven by expressions, mirroring the fidelity of IRL interactions, without the anxiety and privacy concerns inherent with traditional video communication. All of the major players are weighing in: Apple’s ARKit, Google’s ARCore, Facebook’s AR Studio, and Snap's recently announced Lens Studio.

In the meantime, here are a few fun avatar apps to try:

💃 Gabsee: Put your 3D avatar in the real world
📺 Toonstar: Host a TV show with a cartoon (yes, this is weird)
😮 Mirror AI: Turn your selfie into an emoji (backed by YC)
🗞 Genies: Create a next gen bitmoji that reacts to the news
🎤 MyIdol: This is just creepy and awesome

Now for some fun: Share your avatar creation with us on Twitter as a photo or video. We’ll RT the most creative. 😸
More Fun Avatar Apps
HIGHLIGHT
Black Mirror tech: Today Mango Mirror just launched a $500 smart mirror. Watch the video.
Sponsored By
Newsletter Sp-onsor

WorkOS is a modern identity and user management platform that enables B2B SaaS companies to accelerate enterprise adoption. Free up to 1 million MAUs, WorkOS brings a modular approach to B2B Auth with enterprise-ready features like SSO, SCIM, and User Management.

The APIs are flexible and easy to use, designed to provide an effortless experience from your first user all the way through your largest enterprise customer.

Today, hundreds of high-growth scale-ups are already powered by WorkOS, including ones you probably know, like Vercel, Webflow, and Loom.