Xiaomi’s Mimoji, which lets users create animated AR avatars of themselves was announced at the Mi CC9 launch event that was held in Beijing, China on July 2. (Image: Engaged Girl/Weibo)Xiaomi has defended its ‘Mimoji’ feature, insisting it is not a clone of Apple’s ‘Memoji’, though on first glance the two might look very similar. The company also called out a Chinese blogger on Weibo who goes by the name ‘Engaged Girl’, who had put out a photo comparing its Mimoji feature to that of Apple’s Memoji.
A Xiaomi spokesperson put out an official statement on Weibo implying legal action will be taken if the blogger is not able to provide proof of plagiarism allegations.
Mimoji, which lets users create animated AR avatars of themselves was announced at the Mi CC9 launch event that was held in Beijing, China on July 2. The blogger posted photos on Weibo comparing its AR avatars to Memoji, which is a similar feature that Apple debuted in June last year.
Separately, Xiaomi’s Xu Jieyun put out a statement revealing the first generation of the feature called Mi Meng (English name was Mimoji) was released even before Apple’s Memoji in May 2018. The package name of the APK was also called Mimoji, he wrote.
Also read: Xiaomi Mi CC9 vs Mi CC9e: What are the differences?
In a different post, Xu said the company will apologise publicly if proved wrong. The company spokesperson also shared early sketches of Xiaomi’s Mimoji along with the official statement. Notably, Samsung also has its own version of animated AR emojis called the AR Emoji, which uses machine learning to create an animated 3D model of its users using their selfie.
Xiaomi Mi CC9 smartphones are limited to China as of now. The company launched three variants – Mi CC9, Mi CC9e, and Mi CC9 Meitu variant. The Mi CC9 and Mi CC9e smartphones come with similar specifications, though the former is slightly higher-end with a larger display, a different processor, and 18W fast charging support. The Meitu edition gets a gradient back design in different pink and blue colours.
