A couple of noteworthy updates on Microsoft Copilot

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Changes to Microsoft Copilot is rolling out with great speed, some are bigger than than others, but sometimes there are minor changes that doesn't really need a separate blog post. Yet many of these changes means a great deal to the end users and how they can use the tool, and we shouldn't forget to mention them. So here are a couple of announced changed and improvements to Microsoft Copilot.  Uploading images: Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot users with an Entra account will soon gain the ability to upload images and ask Copilot to analyze or describe them. This feature will be accessible through the Microsoft 365 app, Outlook, and Teams on web, desktop, and mobile platforms. Users can either take pictures with their mobile cameras or upload images directly from their devices. This feature itself, has been around in the public Copilot, but with this update it will now be available to anyone with an Entra account (not just copilot licensed users) and in both "wo...

Create avatars from picture or photo is live

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Avatars in Teams is a way to express your presence without turning your camera on in meetings, and it is used when entering a Mesh meeting place. I must admit I du prefer the use of real video, but I do understand the user scenarios where an avatar might come in handy. 

Depending on your preferences, the avatar can be created to your liking, and there are many options to choose from when it comes to skin color, body type, face frame, colors and more. Sometimes, I think there are always too many options, and I never get a result that actually looks like me (if that was my intent).

The avatar feature has been around for a while, but I am obviously not the only one thinking my avatar could and should look more like me. Microsoft has now released a feature that allows you to create an avatar directly from an image (taken when you create the avatar) or by uploading an existing photo. 

The feature seems to be available for most Teams SKU's (Business and E3/E5, even essentials) at this time, and available for both MAC and Windows as long as you are using new Teams client (2.1). You still need 6GB of RAM and a Dual-core processor in order for avatars to be working, 8GB and Quad-core is still recommended for optimal performance. 

I had to give it a test run before writing this post, and the result wasn't that far off the real me. Here is the full user guide, if you want to give it a try: Join a meeting as an avatar.