Google app compares selfies to museum portraits, goes viral
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(Screenshot from Google Arts & Culture app)
The latest update to Google’s Arts & Culture app has created a viral sensation by allowing users to compare their selfies to museum portraits.
Users, including a number of celebrities, have been taking to Twitter and Instagram to share their portrait “doppelgangers.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani was quite impressed with the result:
Actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik also entered her selfie into the app:
Musician Pete Wentz has been enjoying the app:
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Other users, such as the writer Susie Meister and the author of this article were less than impressed with their matches:
“When you take a photo with this feature, your photo is sent to Google to find artworks that look like you,” explains Google. “Google won’t use data from your photo for any other purpose and will only store your photo for the time it takes to search for matches.”
The portrait comparison is just one feature of the app, which also lets users take virtual tours of historic museums such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Users can also browse artworks by color and time period and zoom into famous artworks such as Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers