How One Company Is Using A.I. to Make Custom Emojis
From Apple's Animojis to Bitmoji, the emoji world is beginning to merge technology with self-expression. Mirror A.I.'s Serge Faguet joins Cheddar to discuss his company's keyboard, which uses facial recognition to make custom emoji. He explains the research and development that went into creating the app's software.
The co-founder and CEO also gives his take on the emoji industry's landscape. He says his company has a leg up on Bitmoji, thanks to its facial-recognition software and the ability to make likenesses of friends, in addition to oneself. He says this makes the app inherently more social, which gives it an advantage over competitors.
Finally, we discuss what the future of emoji may hold in store. Faguet says his company is exploring entering the VR and personalized advertising spaces. We also discuss how celebrities are using custom emoji keyboards to market their brands.
The pandemic has supercharged the creator economy, and there are no signs of it slowing down no matter when the pandemic officially ends. Creators prove to be a key factor in driving purchasing decisions and retail sales, and an increasing amount of platforms are taking advantage of the social influence. Karissa Bell, senior editor at Engadget, joins cheddar news to discuss the creator economy boom.
The National Women's Soccer League is partnering with Voyager Digital as its first-ever cryptocurrency brokerage in a multi-year deal. Marla Messing, interim CEO of the NWSL, and Steve Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager Digital, joined Cheddar to discuss benefitting the league and educating players and fans as a way of democratizing cryptocurrency. Messing explained that the players themselves will own half the assets as part of how the deal is structured. "My hope is, just in terms of the expectations of crypto over the long term, that I hope a lot of them are able to just let it sit there," she said. "And that one day this will be a nice retirement account for them."
The E-V maker Tesla has had a wild year. The company managed to continue to dominate the U.S. electric vehicle space despite growing competition and production delays. As the end comes to an end, Tesla finds itself growing richer and richer. Author of Risk Ritual Newsletter Richard Smith, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Paul Travers, CEO of Vuzix, joins Cheddar News to discuss the different scenarios that its augmented reality smart glasses can be used for and his outlook for this technology in 2022.