How To Build Face Swap App Like MSQRD?
So, you want to know how to build a face swapping app like MSQRD (Masquerade) - far-famed filtering & harmless selfie animation application that morphs you into a completely new person in a few seconds? Concerned about MSQRD app development cost?
In this article, we will globally talk not only about MSQRD clone creation but a little bit about Google Cloud Vision too. It’s not intended to show a staged manual to actually implement an application but we will try to guide through this process.
Read also: How To Develop an App Like Periscope?
MSQRD, the well-known face swap application, quickly becomes the famous video selfie app and covers more than 1.6 billion of users, so it’s not surprising that Facebook got interested in it. This purchase will enable the platform to make different photo filters that have become popular in other application - Snapchat. While Facebook decided to buy the company, other people consider making a MSQRD clone.
Little bit of analytics
Snapchat has been a success for a long time with teenagers and younger internet users - more than a half of its users are aged 16-24, and 83% are under 35. For comparison, just 26% of Facebook’s users are 16-24, and it posts higher figures in older age groups.
Furthermore, Facebook’s mature user base is an unconstrained effect of it being the most widely accepted social network in the world – and the one that mature users are likely to join. But by injecting features that are so famous among the younger group of Snapchat, Facebook is obviously trying to be relevant and appealing to the young and trendy social and age group.
Source: globalwebindex
Facebook is a trend-setting social network concerned in purchasing different digital visual products. After purchasing Instagram, Facebook takes on MSQRD, a real-time face swapping application, to be quits with Snapchat.
Creating a mobile app for face swap like MSQRD means you’re creating a real-time app with a bunch of effects, filters, and your favorite star’s faces etc. Actually, this particular app was built for mobile platforms like iOS and Android, but it might be a great idea to design a custom application for desktops - Mac and PC.
Few words about APIs
An API (Application Programming Interface) - in simple words it’s a deal between two people saying: "If you provide me this specification, I will do this operation, or reply with this info".
Example:
• Without API:
An application is searching out the current weather in the city by opening some weather website and interpreting the web page like a human, converting the content.
• With API:
An application is searching out the current weather in the city by sending a request to some weather website’s API (in a cross-linked format like JSON). Service API then responds with a well-defined reply.
With an API, the precise pattern of request and response is outlined upfront service or website and remains invariable, obvious of whether website appearance changes for human users.
Without an API, the application depends on the fact that website will never change its appearance. If it is, the application may crash because it can't parse the webpage. Devices are as smart as the programs you build.
So, using of API is preferred since it's more solid. You can be sure that an application will work with the service API, regardless of the fact that the service may change its web page.
MSQRD: how is it possible?
MSQRD has been designed with a face detection appliance (engine) - Google Cloud Vision API, powerful image analysis. In simple words you could upload pictures using the API and google’s backend will analyze them and recognize.
Several amazing features:
• Understanding the objects. This API is freely detecting different objects in your images like faces, animals, buildings and a lot more. It’s always on the wave because developers are improving it and adding new concepts constantly;
• Inappropriate Content. This API may help you detect such content. With Google SafeSearch, it promptly moderates content from your source images and detects adult or violent content;
• Understanding the emotions. Vision API can reveal your emotions (happiness, anger, sorrow etc) and analyze it. Then combine it with other objects in the photo and make a note about how people in the picture feel about the situation (or maybe logo or other object);
• Text extraction. Need we say more?
MSQRD features
Why is MSQR so different? Actually, every application that obtains a colossal user base comes with exceptional options. Specifically, this application comes with:
• Face swap: swap your face with someone else in one click;
• Live selfie filters: real-time application of different filters, effects, masks, etc.
• Selfie videos and animations: record original video by showing off the animation or saying something comical.
• Facial recognition: detects and identifies the user’s face elements and gets “right through” their glasses;
• Sharing: share your pictures or videos with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Read also: How to Make a Photo Sharing App Like Instagram?
How to make a face swap application
1. Add different masks. MSQRD have a lot of built-in characters and always keep updating their base with something new. Do you like Leonardo Dicaprio, Obama or, perhaps, Harry Potter? Or maybe your favorite character is Joker? In general, even for those who have not decided on the choice of the character, there is still room for imagination.
From your favorite celebrity faces to cartoons, you might consider for your own MSQRD-like app to make your application out-and-outer. You can put on something like DC or Marvel superheroes like Deadpool or Wonder Woman, something that is popular in public.
2. Add different effects. Even though MSQRD has some built-in effects, it never hurts to add something new. Be creative, add new effects, beat hollow the Instagram!
3. Add face swap. It would be a great idea to add face swap in your application because it’s getting trendy. To be the king of the hill means to be on the wave and feel the market, analyze the demography and constantly add new features;
4. Add social network sharing. This is the indispensable prerequisite. Today it’s impossible to make a successful application without sharing the content in social networks. Even G+ is giving variants to share posts in other networks;
5. Hire face swap app developers. When you’re searching for something resembling MSQRD, you are steering trends. The professionals will help you to clone the app and enlarge its functionality. Make any customization you want because cloning app is customization itself. Make your product better and more functional;
6. Don’t miss your revenue! Don’t be surprised, you can generate revenue by adding, for example, Google ads or integrate In-App Purchases for different features, such as paid masks and effects, or release a paid version of the app.
It might be a good starting point for your business, especially for startup!
Source: Business Insider
Face swap app development cost
Application development cost varies on several factors:
1. The amount of work;
2. The time;
3.The budget.
The ever first thing you come up with: this isn’t just an application - it has to be a complete product and it needs a strong business model. You need to have an intelligible idea of what your product will give your clients and how it will bring revenue. Essentially, you need to realize that an application is a continuous project and a long-term investment because you need backend server, customer support, marketing, etc.
So, not to strain you more with tedious texts, we will just say that the creation of such a selfie animations application will cost you about $ 30,000 for the Android and iOS versions of the application, depending on the required functions.
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