Another Viral Deepfake App That Goes Really Accurate
ZAO is a free deepfake face-swapping app that lets you replace the face of popular characters in a video clip of a scene with your own face. Similar to how FaceApp works, the app scans your image from either a photo or a video recording and quickly transfers your likeness onto the faces of the characters in the various movie and TV show scenes available for you to choose in the app. You can look like you’re acting the part of a celebrity in your favorite show with this lifestyle app.
Not Really New
ZAO’s technology has already been in use by other apps before it. Augmented reality filters became popular with camera apps that let you apply various digital changes to your selfies or photos. Snapchat is most popular for it, with its fun animated filters and lenses. FaceApp became popular with its ability to morph people’s photos into what they might look like in the future. ZAO, on the other hand, delves into videos and takes things up a notch. Instead of just plastering your face onto a celebrity’s face, it fully animates your likeness to how the celebrity moves—pretty much editing your expressions onto the character in the scene like how Photoshop can edit pictures. It quickly scans and does the face-swapping in a matter of seconds and you can easily get a video clip of you on an iconic movie scene as if you were the actor.
Fun But Risky
Take caution with this app, however. Like FaceApp, ZAO received immediate backlash for how creepy and unnervingly powerful its editing technology is. Not only that but after the issue, they had to change their privacy policy. While there are only a select few videos and clips that you can use for your own entertainment—and you can’t just use ZAO on whatever video you want—it’s still unsettling to those who aren’t fond of such apps. Despite the developer’s promises, your pictures might get stolen. Danger aside, however, it’s definitely fun for a little while but it doesn’t have a lot of other features you can play with.
At Your Own Cost
If you’re the type who loves the technology behind FaceApp and Snapchat’s features, you may find ZAO an entertaining app. However, as with all apps of this type, caution is advised when using them. In terms of other features, ZAO is still quite simple for a face-swapping app.
