Google’s AR Playground now includes a set of characters showcasing Childish Gambino dance moves.
Pixel phone owners can use Playground and their phone’s camera to add interactive characters to their environment called Playmoji. A new set available today features Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino dancing to “Redbone,” “Summertime Magic” and “This is America.”
The character reacts to facial expressions too. So if you take a selfie with the character, it should respond. The project joins a series of partnerships and experiments from Google as the company explores the AR and VR space. Previous AR partnerships from Google include similar treatments for Star Wars and Stranger Things characters.
Google is encouraging Pixel owners to use the hashtag #pixeldanceoff for videos showing people dancing with the virtual character. The below video from Google previewing the feature shows how it represents Gambino’s signature moves.
Pixel phones aren’t the most popular devices on the market so these kinds of videos are unlikely to become a viral sensation. Nonetheless, you can see in the video how well the moves are represented on the digital character and how well Google’s AR software inserts the character into the scene.
We’re expecting a big year ahead from Google with Google I/O happening May 7 to 9. The event is likely to showcase next steps in AR and VR from the technology giant. Late last year, the company started seeding new VR controller kits to developers which add more intuitive input to the Daydream platform.
