Amazing Looksery app changes your face in real time
Sometimes the capabilities in our iPhones amazes me. Looksery takes real-time video from your iPhone camera and detects your face's geometry. It then overlays a number of effects, some creepy, so you can send spooky pics or wacky videos to your friends. It works surprisingly well and is here just in time for Halloween.
Looksery couldn't be easier to use. Just lift the phone up, look into the camera and tap on the screen if you don't see the red geometry lines detailing your face's contours. From there you can choose a number of "filters" by swiping through the choices below the image area, much like Instagram. But these filters move with your head. Several are eye color replacements, which are freaky if you have dark brown eyes like mine. Seeing my eyes in purple was a strange experience. The real-time rendering of these effects is truly impressive.
One of the creators of Looksery also pointed out to me that the app does some creative filtering, smoothing wrinkles and generally making you look better. I woke up disheveled and with bags under my eyes and the app did make me look a little less worn for wear. You can also thin down your face in a still photo, just to see what that's like.
There are a couple of truly creepy filters, however, like the flaming skull, X-ray and Monster, complete with scary sound effect. There's also a couple of 3D characters, which you can mostly puppet by moving your head, mouth and even eyebrows. And then there's a Lawnmower Man type polygon face that is a lot of fun. Oh, you can also make your face thin, fat or add a big chin. Like I said, it's pretty fun.
Looksery can pull from your still photos, but obviously it's designed for faces and is a lot more fun in real time. There are a number of still photo filters, all pretty pedestrian. In photo mode you can also slim down your face, but that's about it.
The app can also share video clips, which is where the app will blow minds. Send a flaming skull greeting, or send a creepy video that screams, it's all up to you! Of course Looksery videos support the usual sharing suspects: Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Messages, Email, and you can save to your photos. Twitter is only available for still photos. There's a messenger service, but I didn't try that as you have to sign up with your phone number. My bet is that won't take off for a lot of users.
I found Looksery a lot of fun and it's free, so give it a try. According to TechCrunch the company is working on partnering with other companies, so maybe you'll find this tech baked into whatever selfie app you're currently using. Until then, have fun sending spooky videos this month!
