GIFs are great for conveying your reactions, but they're not usually very personal -- and recording yourself probably won't be that exciting. Snap might have found a way to bridge those two worlds. The company has confirmed to TechCrunch that it's testing a Cameo feature which inserts your face into a selection of (currently pre-made) GIFs. You just take a selfie, pick a generic body type and your face will animate as if it were you, including mouth movements. Think of it like a deepfake, but this time friendly instead of creepy.
Snapchat's Cameo test slips your face into GIFs
Think of it as a friendlier deepfake.
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The company said it was testing the feature in some international markets, including France. It's not certain when Cameo will reach the masses, but Snap said to expect a worldwide release "soon."
This could help Snapchat in multiple ways. It's an alternative to Bitmoji for those who think avatars are too cutesy. It also gives Snapchat a way to stand out among social networks and messaging services at the same time, and might give it a source of revenue if it charges for third-party Cameo clips. At least, up until Facebook copies the feature.
Here's some images from the new Snapchat Cameo feature.
— Jeff Higgins - Old Skate Dad (@ItsJeffHiggins) December 8, 2019
Looks like it's only available in France right now but it's takes an AR version of your face and lets you apply it to a bunch of different activities.
Sort of a loose deep fake for Snap. Kind of. pic.twitter.com/LDReLqGCRV
https://t.co/oaX1giUEkC pic.twitter.com/pSwkmHG754
— Aca (•‿•) (@toddflanderrs) December 7, 2019
