So you thought you were taking perfect dog selfies with your Pedigree SelfiSTIX? Yes, but the selfie world moved on and now a selfie isn’t awesome unless there’s a filter added to make it more fun.
Pedigree SelfieSTIX may have been the hot doggie accessory last year, but now Colenso BBDO has added an app. An app that’s a lot like Snapchat Lenses, but for dogs. It lets people add fun filters to their dog’s perfect photo, turning him or her into a police officer, aviator, university graduate, safari explorer or cowboy. Dog owners can also expect a new release of filters around special occasions like Valentine’s Day and Easter.
David Arcus, creative technologist for Colenso BBDO, “People have access to filters, so why not dogs? We looked everywhere for the tech, but it doesn’t exist so – we built it. We trained a network to recognise dog faces by feeding it thousands of images of dogs. Over time, the trained algorithm learned to recognise similar patterns across all the images – the edges of the ears, or the contrasting colours of the nose, for instance. Then whenever the dog looks at the camera, the app places a fun filter on its face.”
Cormac van den Hoofdakker, brand manager of Pedigree at Mars NZ, added, “We love our dogs, so why not give dogs access to all the fun things us humans have too? The Pedigree SelfieSTIX phone clip meant that people could have meaningful moments of closeness with their dogs in the form of a perfect selfie. But with the Pedigree SelfieSTIX app, it truly takes those selfies to the next level.”
As you probably guessed, there’s an advantage for Pedigree. More filters, more selfies, more fun – more Dentastix purchases.
The app uses a unique combination of canine facial recognition technology and machine learning to track the dog’s face, which allows for accurate placing of the filters. It then lets people share their filtered selfie through social media.
The Pedigree SelfieSTIX app is free to download for Android and iOS devices from the App Store and Google Play.
Here’s where it all began:
Colenso BBDO: Pedigree DentaStix teaches dogs to pose for their selfie
