From Facebook to Instagram to Twitter, my social media feeds of late are flooded with selfies next to famous artwork.
Moreover, the selfies are seemingly parallel in nature to the artwork.
You probably know what I'm talking about. These things:
As it turns out, all those photos are from a Google app that's over a year old: It's called the Google Arts & Culture app, and it's free on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
The ability to compare your face to famous works of art, however, is a new feature. And it's one that's clearly caught on! You may be wondering how to use it — I'm here to help with that.
The first thing you have to do is download the app, of course.
In case you missed them above, here are the links directly:
Google Arts & Culture on Google Play
Google Arts & Culture on Apple's App Store
The Google Arts & Culture app works on a wide variety of iPhone and Android phone, as well as other iOS and Android devices. It's free, and easy to find through search on Google Play and Apple's App Store.
Next, after downloading and installing it, all you have to do is find the section dedicated to taking selfies and comparing them with famous artworks.
It's as simple as scrolling down until you see the "Is your portrait in a museum?" box.
When I first opened the app, I didn't really know what to do or where to go. Since the Google Arts & Culture app isn't dedicated solely to comparing selfies with art, there's a bunch of other stuff to sift through to get to the new function.
I opened the menu on the left, which is full of stuff but doesn't have a "take selfie" option. I closed the menu, and returned to the main "feed" of the app — a scrollable main content area laid out vertically. After scrolling past a few different featured stories, the white box surrounded by portraits appeared. Aha!
To note: While people in other countries can download the Google Arts & Culture app, this feature is exclusive to the US for now.
After tapping "Get Started," Google warned me that it would send my selfies to Google.
As you can see here, though Google receives any selfies you take through the app, the company promises it's only holding onto the image for a limited time — the duration of the time the app takes to match your face with a portrait.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider