Aww...Google Pixel 3 now uses AI to automatically detect and capture Kissing selfies

Google updated 'Photobooth mode' on Google Pixel 3. The update uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect people when they are kissing and automatically capture a selfie using the phone's front-facing camera. Last year, Google added Photobooth mode to Pixel 3's AI camera with smile detection feature. All you need to do is click the shutter button and Google's Photobooth mode automatically captures a photo when the camera is steady and it detects that the subjects have a smile with their eyes open.

But unlike smile detection, people don't necessarily have to look into the camera or keep their eyes open while trying to click kissing selfies, which is obvious. Google explains Photobooth uses two different models to capture selfies. One model detects facial expressions while the other model detects when people kiss.

"We’ve added kiss detection to Photobooth! Kiss a loved one, and the camera will automatically capture it," Google engineers said.

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As Google explains, A white bar on the side of the display responds to users’ actions. When everyone’s looking at the camera and making a nice face it intelligently expands to the full width of the display and the Pixel 3 takes a picture.

Interestingly, Google claims to have trained its AI to be able to detect five main expressions: smiles, tongue-out, kissy/duck face, puffy-cheeks, and surprise. Google also trained its neural network to classify all these expressions. Photobooth's kissing model is a variation of the Image Content Model (ICM), claims Google.

Originally trained for Google Clips, Google has fine-tuned the model specifically to focus on kissing. Google says both of these models use MobileNets so that they can run efficiently on-device while continuously processing the images at a high frame rate.

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Finally, their output evaluates the quality of each frame for the shutter control algorithm.

"We’re excited by the possibilities of automatic photography on camera phones. As computer vision continues to improve, in the future we may generally trust smart cameras to select a great moment to capture," Google engineers added.