Technology Face Off

Good morning, class! Last week, we reviewed ‘selfies’ and ‘photobombing’ as our new vocabulary words, but in today’s world, new terms in technology and social media pop up every day. Did you know, for example, that LOL (Laugh Out Loud) is now considered passe and the hipper way to laugh online is Ha or Haha or even Hahaha?

Looks like it’s time for another lesson….

This week, we try and stay ahead of the curve by catching up to a trend that’s still in its early stages – have you heard of face swapping? All it takes is a friend and an app to make this very strange trend happen for you.

Using one of the popular face swap apps, you and a friend line the camera up with your faces. The camera auto-detects the presence of faces, and provides the following, typically cute and comical results:

face swap

Makes sense! Swaps his face with hers, everyone has a good time. But sometimes, the results can be quite disturbing. Talk about a family photo gone wrong:

face swap

Face swapping gets even more interesting once you realize that the app is imperfect. Anything with eyes, a nose, and a mouth seems to be fair game. We might have to try a photo opp like this one the next time we are at deer camp:

face swap

Or, here’s an idea for some fun around the pool this summer:

face swap

I don’t see any real utility in face swapping beyond a laugh (or a shudder) or two. But face swapping could be useful in one way. You might remember my big lazy cat, Sir Sir? He only gets up from his spot on the living room ottoman to eat. But with a good face swap, maybe I can finally get some pictures of him up and about, doing something around the house! And that way, MY face will get some well-deserved rest, lounging on Sir Sir’s ottoman.

Happy Monday,
~Mary