Last month, Snapchat started to test a new feature called Cameos, which essentially relies on deepfake technology. The feature is meant to allow users to use their selfies to replace faces of people in videos and GIFs — purely intended for entertainment purposes only. Starting today, Snapchat has started to officially rollout this feature.
Snapchat has announced that Cameos works only with a pre-selected list of clips. The app will have a selection of 150 videos that are divided in different categories, that can be used for the feature. The technology used by Cameos is similar to the controversial deepfakes technology, used to create fake videos. However, what keeps Cameos uncontroversial is that Snapchat only allows users to put their faces on videos, which have been selected by the company.
As per Snapchat's official website, users will also be able to choose who can see their Cameos selfies and videos. Users will have the option to make it visible to 'Everyone', 'My Friends' or 'Only Me'. Snapchat will also let its users report Cameos content in case they come across anything 'inappropriate'.
[hq]Snapchat Cameos: How it works
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[hans][hstep]Step 1:Open Snapchat and head to a chat with any of your contacts[/hstep]
[hstep]Step 2:Tap on the emoticon icon above the keyboard.[/hstep]
[hstep]Step 3:Here, when you take a selfie within the chat, you will be prompted to select if you want to use Cameos.[/hstep]
[hstep]Step 4:Select a video from the list shown to you. You will be able to save the video to your smartphone or share it with a friend on Snapchat.[/hstep][/hans]
Introducing Cameos. Put your face into it https://t.co/J6qNhscV3a pic.twitter.com/sjac6mQP5k
— Snapchat (@Snapchat) December 11, 2019
No other app currently offers this feature, where you can paste your photo over that of a person inside a GIF. This could be used as a Bitmoji replacement for those who are not too fond of avatars.