Happy Halloween! Baidu Research Introduces FaceYou

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 29, 2015) - Baidu Research, a division of Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), today announced availability of FaceYou on the Apple App Store.

FaceYou is an entertainment app that allows users to merge their own face with another face, capturing facial expressions and speech in real-time. With a click of a button, users can then record a video or photo to share instantly through social media (#faceyou #halloween).

With Halloween just around the corner, FaceYou includes a pre-loaded lineup of scary faces, including zombies and skeletons. Other options include animals and historical figures. A special "plus" button enables users to upload their own content, such as faces of friends and cartoon characters.

FaceYou originated from a tech demo created by Baidu researchers to demonstrate sophisticated artificial intelligence techniques on a smartphone. In the past, this level of real-time face morphing was available only on larger, expensive systems used in film and animation studios.

Jiawei Gu, project leader in Baidu Research's Institute of Deep Learning, explains: "FaceYou is built on advanced deep learning technology. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are used to map out 72 facial feature points, defining the mouth, nose, eyes, eyebrows, chin and jawline. Then the face is segmented according to facial contours, the relative position and shape of major features, and facial expressions."

He continues: "A triangle mesh substitution based on the 72 points is performed, and mouth- and eye-motions are migrated. Skin color and light reflection discrepancies are blended. Using a weighted blending of boundary transition regions, the new face is overlaid over the user's face with a very natural effect."

To create a personalized Halloween greeting, users can record a real-time voice message with their video and share through email, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

To download FaceYou, go here or visit the Apple App Store and search on "FaceYou."

For additional info on FaceYou:
- Read the Baidu Research blog post
- Watch the FaceYou video

About Baidu Research
Baidu Research, based in Silicon Valley and Beijing, is led by Dr. Andrew Ng, Chief Scientist. The organization brings together global research talent to work on fundamental technologies in areas such as image recognition, speech recognition, natural language processing, robotics and big data.