【1980 Archives】

Let's face it: Selfies980 Archivesgotten boring.

No one cares anymore that thanks to the miracle of modern technology you can vomit rainbows or stick a dog's nose on your face. It's just, well, played out. Whether that's in spite of or because of Facebook's recent push into the filter game is anyone's guess, but all the Zuckerberg money in the world can't make something cool.

But hey, all you filter lovers out there, there's hope yet. Say hello to the definitely sexy sounding technique known as "example-based synthesis of stylized facial animations" that is to be presented at the SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference scheduled for later this summer in Los Angeles.

And just what is that, you ask?

"This new method allows video of a face to be stylized to match an example drawing, or painting, using non-parametric texture synthesis," the SIGGRAPH promo video helpfully explains.

Basically, the method takes a sample image — like a bronze statue — and maps that to your face while you talk. An example video, without sound, was released by researcher Professor Daniel Sýkora ahead of the presentation.

It's pretty cool.

For sure, Prisma already works on video, but that app has a fixed number of pre-programmed video styles. You can't morph video of your face into the style of whatever random painting or sculpture suits you.

Sýkora and his team, based out of the Czech Republic republic, have made this very thing possible.

Whenever the tech finally makes its way to phones, which you know it will, selfie filters are finally going to get interesting again. Until that time? Well, I guess we're just stuck with bunny ears.