{"id":235489,"date":"2016-01-21T08:47:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T08:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.technet.microsoft.com\/inside_microsoft_research\/2016\/01\/21\/popular-microsoft-selfie-app-updated-with-social-sharing\/"},"modified":"2017-02-07T14:45:04","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T22:45:04","slug":"popular-microsoft-selfie-app-updated-with-social-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/blog\/popular-microsoft-selfie-app-updated-with-social-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular Microsoft Selfie app updated with social sharing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By George Thomas Jr., Writer, Microsoft<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 285px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/msdnshared.blob.core.windows.net\/media\/TNBlogsFS\/prod.evol.blogs.technet.com\/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles\/00\/00\/00\/90\/35\/selfie-noise-reduction_275.png\" alt=\" \" width=\"275\" height=\"206\" border=\"0\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Burst Image De-noising technology compensates for low-light conditions.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Released less than a month ago and among the best new apps for iOS, the popular <a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/microsoft-selfie\/id1064676206?mt=8\" target=\"_blank\">Microsoft Selfie app<\/a> is adding new features.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft\u2019s Beijing based team behind the app has been paying close attention to user feedback, and the latest update adds two new features: easier social sharing and an updated user interface.<\/p>\n<p>And while the app and the updates might seem rather mundane, rest assured: there is serious science behind the selfie.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers from the Visual Computing group utilized a bevy of computer vision technologies ranging from face detection to visual recognition to super charge the experience contributing to the app\u2019s meteoric rise in popularity.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Jh5bM5cUPQA?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The app leverages Microsoft Research\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/microsoft-research-face-sdk-beta\/\" target=\"_blank\">Face technologies<\/a> to help determine the age, gender and skin tone of a person and avoid the exaggerated refinements that limit the effectiveness of other selfie apps. These technologies can be utilized by developers through <a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/www.projectoxford.ai\/face\" target=\"_blank\">Project Oxford<\/a>, which also powers other experiences like <a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"http:\/\/how-old.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">How-Old.net<\/a>, <a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/www.twinsornot.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">TwinsOrNot.net<\/a> and <a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymoustache.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">MyMoustache.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, a new portrait enhancement technique called Digital Face Clean intelligently removes undesired features like wrinkles and baggy eyelids, while preserving desired characteristics like hair, mustaches, tattoos and accessories.<\/p>\n<p>The app\u2019s outstanding noise reduction feature uses \u201cBurst Images De-noising\u201d, a technique that intelligently judges light conditions, automatically enables burst shots and leverages multiple frames for better de-noising, thus improving image quality. This technology has also been used in the popular <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/store\/p\/blink\/9wzdncrfhx5d\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #0563c1;\">Blink app<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft Selfie\u2019s Auto Exposure feature, which can automatically detect a backlit photo and compensate the light level, is also used in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/store\/apps\/office-lens\/9wzdncrfj3t8\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #0563c1;\">Office Lens app<\/span><\/a>. Combined with dehaze technology, it greatly improves photo clarity.<\/p>\n<p>But it can do more than just enhance selfies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMicrosoft Selfie can produce professional looking photos,\u201d said Peggy Dai, program manager of the incubation team.<\/p>\n<p>Existing apps either produce unnatural-looking results or fail in dim lighting conditions or require excessive user interaction, she added. But Microsoft Selfie is designed to be natural, intelligent and easy to use.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithin two weeks after releasing, our app has achieved more than half a million downloads, which is a lovely surprise for our team,\u201d she said, adding the team has received extensive instructive feedback from users.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTogether with the research team we will introduce more innovative features to the app, and expand availability on more platforms,\u201d Dai said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" title=\"Microsoft just released the best iPhone app ever\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cosmopolitan.com\/lifestyle\/news\/a51946\/microsoft-selfie-app\/\" target=\"_blank\">Microsoft just released the best iPhone app ever<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Microsoft Selfie: Redefining lightweight apps\" href=\"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/ard\/news\/newsinfo.aspx?newsid=article_20151231\" target=\"_blank\">Microsoft Selfie: Redefining lightweight apps<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By George Thomas Jr., Writer, Microsoft Released less than a month ago and among the best new apps for iOS, the popular Microsoft Selfie app is adding new features. Microsoft\u2019s Beijing based team behind the app has been paying close attention to user feedback, and the latest update adds two new features: easier social sharing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30766,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[194480,194481],"tags":[186897,202097,196432,202789,203235],"research-area":[13562,13551,13554],"msr-region":[],"msr-event-type":[],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-post-option":[],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-promo-type":[],"msr-podcast-series":[],"class_list":["post-235489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-graphics-and-multimedia","category-human-centered-computing","tag-computer-vision","tag-ios","tag-microsoft-research-asia","tag-microsoft-selfie","tag-peggy-dai","msr-research-area-computer-vision","msr-research-area-graphics-and-multimedia","msr-research-area-human-computer-interaction","msr-locale-en_us"],"msr_event_details":{"start":"","end":"","location":""},"podcast_url":"","podcast_episode":"","msr_research_lab":[],"msr_impact_theme":[],"related-publications":[],"related-downloads":[],"related-videos":[],"related-academic-programs":[],"related-groups":[737755],"related-projects":[170911],"related-events":[],"related-researchers":[],"msr_type":"Post","byline":"","formattedDate":"January 21, 2016","formattedExcerpt":"By George Thomas Jr., Writer, Microsoft Released less than a month ago and among the best new apps for iOS, the popular Microsoft Selfie app is adding new features. Microsoft\u2019s Beijing based team behind the app has been paying close attention to user feedback, and&hellip;","locale":{"slug":"en_us","name":"English","native":"","english":"English"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235489"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30766"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235489"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362162,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235489\/revisions\/362162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235489"},{"taxonomy":"msr-research-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-area?post=235489"},{"taxonomy":"msr-region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-region?post=235489"},{"taxonomy":"msr-event-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-event-type?post=235489"},{"taxonomy":"msr-locale","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-locale?post=235489"},{"taxonomy":"msr-post-option","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-post-option?post=235489"},{"taxonomy":"msr-impact-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-impact-theme?post=235489"},{"taxonomy":"msr-promo-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-promo-type?post=235489"},{"taxonomy":"msr-podcast-series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-podcast-series?post=235489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}