Interracial couples, lazarillos, a sloth and a waffle: new emojis coming soon

Interracial couples. A guide for the blind. A person who uses a wheelchair.

Here are some of the new emoticons announced this week by the Unicode Consortium, a non-profit organization that sets standards for text on the Internet and monitors these ideograms.

The list, which includes 59 new characters, as well as variants for a total of 230 options, puts the emphasis on inclusion. People will soon be able to create a "hand-held" emoji that reflects their own relationship, selecting skin color and gender identity for each individual. Other options include emoticons showing a hearing aid, prosthetics, sign language, a cane or a wheelchair.

The new series also includes an otter, a sloth, a waffle, a falafel, a gaping face, a white heart, a sari and a controversial swimsuit in one piece.

In a world where people use emoticons to represent everything from weddings to poop, the announcement provoked many reactions, like the picture of a drop of blood that has become a new way of talk about menstruation and a symbol. to make a claw with the fingers that generated ridicule on a certain part of the male body that can be very very small.

However, do not expect to see them soon on your keyboard. This will probably not happen for a few months.

The Unicode consortium establishes emoticon compatibility standards, which allow the translation of ideograms on the Internet. In a February 6 interview, Greg Welch, a member of Unicode's board of directors, then explained to companies such as Apple and Google that they needed to design and incorporate the code into their systems. 39; operation. New emoticons usually reach their mobile phones in September or October, the consortium said in a statement.

On February 6, an Apple representative presented to Unicode his proposal to create accessibility emoticons, in which he claimed that the new images "would promote a diversified culture incorporating disability" and would help people to become more comfortable. # 39; express. as well as to show their support to their loved ones.

On February 6, a Google representative said he hoped to launch the new models soon. The latest update continues the trend towards greater diversity, which began a few years ago with the introduction of a variety of skin colors. In 2017, the emoji of a hijab were added.

"People are asking for curly hair or some skin color, a bald head and a hijab," said Jennifer Lee, who is part of the Emoji Unicode subcommittee and helped found Emojination, a community effort to create these symbols. more inclusive.

"It is largely because people are trying to say the word" I, "said Lee, who previously worked as a reporter for The New York Times, during an interview on February 6. "They are trying to represent themselves in emojilandia."

Tinder, the online dating app, has campaigned for Unicode to better represent couples of different races and genders in the "universal language of the digital age".

"Love is universal," says the Tinder website. "And it's time for interracial couples to be represented in our universal language."

"It's huge and historic," said Ken Tanabe, founder of Loving Day, an organization that encourages people to celebrate the anniversary of the US Supreme Court ruling that legalized marriage interracial in this country.

"You talk about marriages and family foundations," he said in an interview on February 6, adding that he had heard of people who could not find a cake ornament of marriage reflecting their relationship and had decided to use pieces of chess. White and Black

"Having an already present emoji is like saying," Hey, we're part of the conversation, "" he said. "We are part of the community, we are represented in the most personal part of our lives."

Apple has launched a campaign to add emoticons that represent people with disabilities. In a statement on February 6, Howard A. Rosenblum, executive director of the National Association of the Deaf, a civil rights organization for the hearing-impaired and hard-of-hearing, said he was working closely with Apple to create the deaf emoticon. and that he hoped that it would contribute to "sensitizing the world to the culture of the deaf and the many sign languages ​​that exist".

One of the new emojis (a guide for the blind or visually impaired) offers people a fun way to portray their identities and pay homage to their dogs in text messages and e-mails, said Becky Davidson, who works in Guiding. Eyes for the Blind, an organization that provides trained dogs to the blind or visually impaired

"Some people may think that they do not want it to be defined, and that's their choice and they do not have to use it," she said. "But I think a lot of us love our dogs and we like to show them.

Eyeglbades are an integral part of the lives of many blind people, to the point that they often sign their e-mails from "so and so", Davidson said.

However, some prefer to keep their dog's name confidential, so others do not use the dog's name and do not distract him from his job, Davidson said. Using the image of a guide, she said, would be a way to include the dog in conversations without sharing specific information.

For Davidson, using emoticons is not natural, she said, because she was born blind and does not know what some facial expressions look like. However, he said that he could make an exception for having the opportunity to include a photo of Lawson, his 9-year-old yellow lab.

"I think it's a good idea," he said.

* Copyright: 2019 The New York Times Press Office