GraphicManipulation
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Turn yourself into an alien avatar with PhotoAvatar
PhotoAvatar (US $.99) is a remarkable iPhone/iPod touch novelty app from the makers of HourFace, an app I liked quite a lot when I reviewed it a few months ago. PhotoAvatar turns a properly taken photo into any one of three alien avatars, each so realistic that it's eerie. Using a carefully taken photo snapped by the camera or taken from a photo library, you decide on which alien you want to be and the app does the rest. The picture gets transformed into an amazingly realistic 3D moving image. The result can be emailed or saved to the camera roll. But the creepiest part is watching the image on the screen. It's constantly in motion, blinking, turning, glaring and growling at you. If you swipe your finger over the image, the avatar will follow your finger. If you tap the screen, the image will stretch and audibly growl at you. If you shake the device, you'll get another animation. This app is very simple to use and limited in usefulness, but for once, I don't think that matters since the results are really something to behold. I watched an avatar without touching the screen for a few minutes and regardless of what I knew, I was just about convinced that the image was real. You really need to see this gem for yourself and a buck is a fair price to show you something that you haven't yet seen in such a realistic manner. digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Turn_Your_Friends_into_Alien_Avatars_with_Your_iPhone'; PhotoAvatar has the same limitations of HourFace when taking or using a picture. The photo needs to look directly ahead, not be wearing glasses, have a visible forehead, a closed mouth and not be too light or dark. I found about half of the photos I tried from my photo library worked and half didn't, bringing up a screen detailing the specs I just noted. But when it works, it's incredible. The only thing I would like to see added to the app is the ability to output a properly sized avatar file to be used with Twitter, Facebook, etc. The marketing text makes it clear that this is one of the purposes of the app, so I can't see why PhotoAvatar can't output such an image. Take a look at this gallery where you can see my source picture and what PhotoAvatar did with it. Then, click the 'read more' link to watch the video since you really need to see it in action. I'd buy it right now as one of the best graphic implementations yet. %Gallery-88466% TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page.
HourFace: The picture of Dorian Gray in an app
HourFace [US $.99 iTunes Link] is a very neat little novelty app. I'm told that it's the top selling app in Japan. HourFace uses your camera or your photo library to take or choose a head shot. It then uploads the picture to its server which turns it into a very realistic moving 3D image with the face naturally moving and eyes that blink. If you touch part of the screen, the face will move in that direction. The effect is startling. The neat part is that app makes your 3D face younger or older depending how you hold your device, using the accelerometer. Tilt the screen up and the face gets younger. Tilt it down and the face gets older. Keeping the bar in the middle shows you the default age of the the face. You can also move the blue bar yourself with a finger. HourFace works on any iPhone or iPod touch running OS 3.0 or better The app is quite picky when it comes to taking pictures or using them from your photo library. If there are more than one person in the picture only one person will age. If the face not exactly what the app expects, you'll get a message telling you that it can't find a face, even if the whole picture is a face. You are informed that the ideal photo faces directly ahead, has its mouth closed, be not too bright or dark, show a visible forehead and not be wearing glasses. I found that more than half of the pictures I took or were in my photo library worked well, while the rest didn't. You are also given the option of emailing the image. I don't know how much utility I'll be getting from the app, but I like it very much for what it is, which is is an eerily realistic graphic manipulation. Take a look at the video below, and give it shot. It's worth a buck for the entertainment value and the result is amazingly real. TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page. Note: As of testing the app about 20 minutes before the post is scheduled to go live, I found that pictures will upload, but it gets stuck on 'processing', eventually timing out. My uneducated guess is that their servers are temporarily down.
