YouTube will let you try on makeup while watching tutorials with the help of AR

It isn’t exactly a secret that beauty bloggers on YouTube have large followings, and these creators sometimes even debut new products from some of the biggest makeup brands in the world. And that’s why Google is taking advantage of this with its new AR Beauty Try-On feature. It’ll let YouTube viewers virtually try on makeup they see while watching reviews and tutorials for products. MAC Cosmetics has signed on to bring this feature to life. It’s currently in the alpha stage and available through Google’s in-house branded content platform, FameBit.

As a viewer, this feature will create a split screen scenario on your smartphone. The top half will play the YouTube video, while the bottom half will launch your front-facing camera to capture you. AR filters will help you apply virtual makeup samples. Machine learning helped this tool work on a full range of skin tones, and Google has demoed it with several beauty brands. It was found that 30 percent of viewers activated the AR experience in the YouTube iOS app and spent an average of 80 seconds trying on virtual lipstick. It’ll be interesting to see what other brands will follow suit and implement this feature.

Source: Engadget