{"id":337579,"date":"2017-04-04T23:23:02","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T15:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1472455"},"modified":"2017-04-04T23:23:02","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T15:23:02","slug":"microsoft-launches-sprinkles-a-silly-camera-app-powered-by-machine-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/microsoft-launches-sprinkles-a-silly-camera-app-powered-by-machine-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft launches Sprinkles, a silly camera app powered by machine learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Microsoft is getting into the \u201cfun camera app\u201d game with a new iOS application called Sprinkles, which has now earned a featured spot in the \u201cNew apps we love\u201d section of the App Store. The gist with\u00a0Sprinkles<\/a>, clearly aimed at a teen audience, is to offer a variety\u00a0of traditional photo decorating tools like stickers, emoji and captions, but leverages Microsoft\u2019s machine learning and A.I. capabilities to do things like detect faces, determine the photo subject\u2019s age and emotion, figure out your celebrity look-a-like, suggest captions,\u00a0and more.<\/p>\n

These tools have been put to use before in other consumer-facing web projects from Microsoft, like CelebsLike.me,<\/a> which shows your celebrity doppelg\u00e4ngers, for example, or How-Old.net,<\/a> a site from Microsoft\u2019s machine-learning team that tries to guess your age.<\/p>\n

With Sprinkles<\/a>, these sorts of tools are integrated into a new photo-editing experience instead, where Microsoft hopes to cater to the same crowd that\u2019s obsessed with Snapchat\u2019s flower crowns and puppy faces.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The new app leverages facial recognition techniques to\u00a0properly overlays decorations like hats or\u00a0mustaches, as well as its guesses about the subject\u2019s age and celeb look-a-likes. It uses object recognition to understand what\u2019s in the photo, or it can tell if you\u2019re smiling, and then suggests relevant captions. (For example, a scowling\u00a0face photo prompted the caption \u201cturn that frown upside down.\u201d)<\/p>\n

And it can suggest captions and stickers based on factors like time or location where the photo was taken. (E.g. its caption may include\u00a0Monday jokes for photos snapped on a Monday.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You can swipe through its various suggestions \u2013 including props, caption ideas, age suggestions, and more \u2013 \u00a0to pick those you like, or you can manually decorate your photos with stickers from the web, emoji (sourced from EmojiOne), or your own text.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the resulting image can be saved or shared with friends, however you choose, including over messaging, Facebook, Twitter, email and more.<\/p>\n

This is not Microsoft\u2019s first attempt with\u00a0iOS camera apps, to be clear. The company had previously released Microsoft Selfie<\/a>, a competitor of sorts to FaceTune, which helps you smooth out your selfie photos; and it introduced Microsoft Pix,<\/a> an A.I.-powered alternative to the default camera app that enhances photos.<\/p>\n

However, Sprinkles is the first to really aim young,\u00a0with an app that\u2019s a bit\u00a0derivative in terms of its inspiration (decorate your photos!), but also cleverly aggregates a lot of the silly but fun technology Microsoft before showcased only in its standalone side projects. Sprinkles similarly feels like just another side project that\u2019s meant to act as a demonstration of its technology. (But it was also released on April 1st, so\u2026April Fool\u2019s to anyone taking it seriously?)<\/p>\n

The app is a free download on the iTunes App Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Microsoft is getting into the “fun camera app” game with a new iOS application called Sprinkles, which has now earned a featured spot in the “New apps we love” section of the App Store. The gist with\u00a0Sprinkles, clearly aimed at a teen audience, is to offer a variety\u00a0of traditional photo decorating tools like stickers, emoji and captions, but leverages… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

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