Looksery app brings real-time photo face manipulation to mobile devices

By Felix Esser June 10, 2014

looksery app aims bring real time face manipulation mobile devices — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Portrait photographers have, for a long time, resorted not only to using makeup in order to make their models look more “attractive,” but also to severe manipulation in image-editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. The amount of manipulation that these computer programs can achieve is striking, making it possible to alter the complete appearance of a person. This, however, requires a lot of skill and training, and, so far, hasn’t been an option for the hobbyist, let alone the consumer.

A new app called Looksery, however, aims to bring facial manipulation capabilities to your mobile device. Initially available for the iPhone 4 and above (with iPad and Android versions coming later) Looksery offers “face tracking and transformation technology for video chat, video selfies, and photos.” Basically, what Looksery does is to overlay a face with a vector mask that tracks individual parts of a face, and then use that mask to move those parts in order to achieve a totally different look.

Currently, Looksery is being crowdfunded via Kickstarter, and while the app itself will be free, users who pledge to the project will be rewarded with additional filters, which is what the app is based on. Each filter will help alter a specific part of a person’s appearance, be it the chin, cheeks, nose, eye color, and more. There will even be a filter that’ll let you “zombify” a face.

Looksery offers much more than that, and to get an idea of what its creators have in mind, take a look at the app’s Kickstarter page. The project is currently at $12,000 of its $30,000 funding goal (as of June 10, 2014), with 38 days to go. If manipulation of facial characteristics is what you’ve always wanted to do, but never had the means to, Looksery may just be what you’re looking for. To get a feel for what the app is able to do, check out Looksery’s campaign video below.

(Via Imaging Resource)

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Felix is a freelance tech journalist with a strong focus on photography. Based out of central Germany, he contributes to…

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