Selfit takes selfies to a new level with mixed reality
Selfit takes selfies to the next levels, incorporating mixed reality to give the effects of various backgrounds, animations and wearable accessories among other things. It's similar in nature to Photo Booth but has a wider array of customization options and uses slightly different technology. Plus, Selfit allows for multiple effects to be on at once to create unique combinations of playful photos and videos. The app is free for iPhone and iPad.
The app requires that it detect your face before you move forward with any of the effects. These aren't the typical effects you see in fun photo editing apps that just alter the colors or distort the pixels. Selfit's effects revolve around the location of your face and facial features.
The face detection was very good at detecting my face in standard lighting. It offers up some tips beforehand as well suggesting that you stand in a well-lit environment and ditch the glasses if you have them.
Selfit has various types of effects but I'm going to attempt to categorize all of them down to three: backdrops, facial effects and face replacements.
Backdrops are the most generic of the three but they work pretty well and Selfit gets creative with the options. In giving the effect that your face is in front, it fairs just okay. Keeping in mind that the app is free, though, it's pretty good - better than Photo Booth on my Mac, that's for sure. It doesn't require you to step out of frame as it samples the background and applies the backdrop. Instead, the app seems to determine the border around your face and body and then feather it while applying the effect around all sides. This means it's not exactly picture perfect, but certainly adequate.
Facial effects are where Selfit shows off its capabilities best. These are the effects that track specific aspects of your face. As a result, the mixed reality allows you to "wear" funny sunglasses, masks, facial hair, face paint and a remarkable amount of additional items. The face paint especially is eerily realistic and even accurately adjusts if you move your eyes or lips.
Face replacements make up the smallest category but they're too hilarious to ignore. These cover your face entirely with some odd character and effect like an ogre and a skull, but they follow your movements.
On top of being able to mix and match all of these effects, Selfit bundles a few together for you in Scenes. The underwater scene puts goggles around your eyes and has fish swimming around in the background.
When you take a photo or video, it's up to you to save it within the app, to your camera roll, or share it elsewhere. You may notice that not all of the effects are readily available for use. Some have locks on them. To unlock them, you need to "buy" them with sharing points. It's an in-app currency, but it never requires spending real money. Instead, you earn sharing points every time you share a photo or video using Selfit. Major props to Selfit for not taking the conventional give-me-your-money route.
Selfit is a terrific amount of fun and works well to spice up those selfies with some imaginative decorations and mixed reality effects. The design is simple enough to navigate and with loads of customization options, anyone can find at least something to get a chuckle out of. Get Selfit in the App Store for iPhone or iPad.
