Lighten Up With Fun New Face Filter

Virtual work meetings have gone from an occasional curiosity to a daily part of professional life, and there are plenty of startups out there looking to capitalize on this shift. 

One such company is EmbodyMe and its xpression camera, as detailed in an official press release. The xpression camera is a real-time face filtering app that promises to add a bit of chaos to your next work meeting, Zoom party, or simple live stream. 

The app integrates with all of the major players in the remote meeting space, including the aforementioned Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meets, and works with leisure-based video chat applications like Twitch and YouTube. 

Activating the xpression camera app allows you to adopt different personas based on images you have saved on your computer and choose face filters designed by the company itself. 

Want to show up as Albert Einstein to give a video presentation or as a gnarly orc on Halloween? You can do that. The tech actually looks pretty nifty and has been in development since 2016, with a beta launching in 2020.  

The technology here is not limited to face filtering, as it also changes the background in real-time for added effect. For example, you can use the background filter to turn your pajamas into a respectable suit and tie, and nobody would be the wiser. 

Safeguards are in place to prevent deep fakes and protect user privacy, such as automatic watermarks. 

A free version of the app is available for PCs and Macs that integrates with seven default face images and 15 backgrounds. At $8 monthly, a paid version allows user-generated face images and virtual background customization.