Transform your selfie into stickers with Google’s “Minis” feature in Gboard
Google rolls out “Minis” feature to android users with Gboard v7.5 and higher. Minis transforms a selfie into stickers, which can be used as a way of expression, like Bitmoji, while engaging with someone to take conversation beyond words.
Google has also added this feature to Google Allo, where they are called Selfie Stickers. It makes use of the latest technology and uses Machine Learning (ML), Neural Networks and Illustrations by artists to build a pack of stickers which can be customised further.
When a user takes a selfie, the app scans the image and creates two sticker versions of them, classified as Bold Mini or Sweet Mini. As things stand, the sticker pack creates 100 sticker styles for users to try, with more options to come. Minis also give users the flexibility to add more details to their avatar by playing around with customisation for shape of the face, eyes, eyebrows, hairstyle and more importantly accessories.
Gboard, which has been downloaded by over 1 billion users, comes with a huge range of features, making it the best keyboard use for Android users. From glide typing to voice typing to handwriting, the options to send text out is huge. Be it a GIFs or general information that a user wants to search for, Gboard lets users do the same from within the keyboard - reducing the need to switch apps. Also, Gboard supports 50 Indian languages with voice support for 8 Indian popular languages.
Creating Minis is simple, and users can get stickers of themselves made within minutes. To get started, a user needs to access stickers section which contains a few default options [Gboard has provision to use Bitmoji too] and click on the “Your Minis” tab. Upon selecting the create button option, the camera will open, asking a user to take a selfie and once clicked, Gboard like described above will use ML, Neural Networks and Artist illustrations to process the image and create stickers for the user.
Users now have huge and wide of range of sticker collections to choose from, whenever they want to communicate with expressions.
