To further expedite its efforts for live video, Facebook is now working on a new camera technology to help you jazz up and make your broadcasts look artsier. The social media behemoth is currently working on Prisma-like filters to overlay your streams with famous works of art, that you can expect to be released in the near future.
This prototype camera technology was demoed at the WSJD Live Conference, where Facebook’s chief product officer Chrix Cox and COO Sheryl Sandberg took the stage to discuss future agendas for Facebook’s continued growth. They said that the core platform has already ammassed a humongous 1.7 billion people daily users but the next phase of growth will be led by Live Video.
Cos further added that over the next five years, video will dominate over 70 percent of Internet traffic and it will be the case across all of its platforms. No avenue including messaging, Instagram or any other app will remain untouched from this revolutionary step towards live video. Thus, the company is now aggressively working and banking upon the growth of its live streaming tool which it released last year.
But, that’s not it. Facebook also has fascinating new(kinda old) live camera filters in the works as well. This tech was shown off on stage by Cox, who excitedly pulled out his iPhone, turned the audience into a Van Gogh masterpiece and started recording. The video had a striking resemblance to the sassy, old Prisma filters which have recently caught the hype train and achieved various records in the past months. But, this strategy of Facebook is also directly aimed at Snapchat who also allows users to overlay their photos and videos with funky lenses and caricatures.
Facebook’s Chris Cox demos prototype software for making creative smartphone videos, here emulating Van Gough #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/W3bXqIDFVk
— Geoffrey A. Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) October 25, 2016
It is currently in beta and can match the style of any famous art piece using a technique called style transfer. Detailed in a German academic paper, this tech makes use of convolutional neural networks to stylise your content and has been the focus of AI researchers for the past few years.
The chief product officer then mentioned the fact that this camera technology hasn’t been attached to any one product but can be easily be used with Facebook Live. Though it already has a basic set of filters available to live broadcasters, this could be another sweet addition to their carousel. This development also falls in line with the company’s goal of making video the prime asset of its platform.
Also since these filters are an exclusive feature, they could also find a place within the filter-focused MSQRD application which Facebook acquired last year. Cox concluded saying that CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to announce the release of this tech in the coming weeks. so get hyped if you like Prisma and its artsy masterpieces.
