AOL launches new face-tracking app at VidCon
ANAHEIM, California -- Move over, Snapchat.
At VidCon on Thursday, AOL is launching a new face-tracking app called Switch, Mashable has exclusively learned.
The Verizon-owned giant is hoping young app users -- the same ones who obsessively use Snapchat lenses and filters -- will gravitate toward its new app with similar offerings.
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Switch, created by Kanvas (a photo-editing service for teens and children acquired by AOL in 2015), enables users to swap their face with a variety of content such as 3D avatars, masks and 3D content.
Other differentiators include 3D Bobble Heads (3D heads that completely replace the user’s head on the screen), burst videos (the Switch camera snaps 6 consecutive photos, plays them forward and then loops them backwards) and a gallery feature (Switch collects all of a user’s creations in a gallery for them within the app).
"Our strategy is to be more open than the competition," Dave McDowell, SVP of AOL Core Products, told Mashable. "Teens use every network, they don't want to be locked into a single platform. Not only do we have cutting edge creative tools, but users can also share what they create anywhere."
The app will have 20 filters at the time of launch, with another 12 in the pipeline that will be released in the coming weeks.
Over the last few years, AOL has bolstered its efforts in creating video content for each of its individual brands geared towards various audiences.This is the company's first time at VidCon, where they will have a booth on the exposition hall floor to promote the new app.
Kanvas Founder and CEO Vic Singh said the original Kanvas app has seen a lot of engagement from influencers, hence why AOL felt VidCon was the perfect place to launch the app.
"It's such a perfect fit for our target audience. We see teens spending a lot of time creating manipulating and editing content," Singh told Mashable. "We think we have the best product to allow them to express themselves to fullest and share that anywhere."
AOL will also bring several influencers to test out the app. There will also be a replica of Drake's "Hotline Bling" set, which attendees can use as a backdrop while testing out the app.
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Topics Apps & Software
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
