Virtual Worlds Forum

UK firm Mixipix has been around for a while, focused mainly on user-customisable animations which can be sent via email or mobile. However, the company has announced a new product targeted at the social networking market. It's called mixibodz, and is a tool for building and animating cartoon avatars, which can then be embedded into Facebook, MySpace and Blogger, as well as sent to friends via mobile. "It moves the avatar outside the purely online world and into the user's everyday life," says Mixipix founder Lesley Keen. mixibodz will have regular content updates, with new outfits, accessories and animations, as well as support for different social networks and blogging platforms. There's competition out there though, from similar firms such as WeeWorld, as well as widgets putting people's existing Second Life and other virtual world avatars onto their social networking profiles. Other rivals include specific widgets for some of these sites, such as the Simpsons avatar creator for Facebook. mixibodz website