Google Arts and Culture app adds Pet Portrait feature, helping you find your furkid’s artistic double

Of course it’s for Google’s machine learning needs.

The Pet Portraits feature inside the Google Arts and Culture app.

The Pet Portraits feature inside the Google Arts and Culture app.

Back in 2018, Google had Art Selfie, where you used your selfies to look for your art history double. 

Now, the same can be done for your pets. Google just announced Pet Portraits for its Arts and Culture app (Android, iOS), letting users find their pet’s doppelgängers from notable artwork seen across history.

According to Google, your pet may match with “ancient Egyptian figurines, vibrant Mexican street art, serene Chinese watercolors, and more”. To use the feature, simply get to the rainbow camera tab in the Arts and Culture app to find a lookalike.

Google blog's example of the famous @nala_cat (Instagram) with 4.3 million followers. Apparently, it matches a lithographic piece titled The Favourite Cat.

Google blog's example of the famous @nala_cat (Instagram) with 4.3 million followers. Apparently, it matches a lithographic piece titled The Favourite Cat.

Lying underneath this cute feature is Google’s computer vision and machine learning algorithms hard at work. Snapping a photo of your pet would make the camera software recognise your pet, crop it neatly, and match it to its artistic likeness.

This other cat resembles Myojakdo (Cats and Sparrows) from Byeon Sang-byeok, 18th-century Korean painter from the Joseon Dynasty.

This other cat resembles Myojakdo (Cats and Sparrows) from Byeon Sang-byeok, 18th-century Korean painter from the Joseon Dynasty.

While Google didn’t specify which types of pets do Pet Portraits work on, the company did say that Google Arts and Culture can help you discover more about “our pawed, winged, and hooved friends” throughout history by introducing the stories behind each artwork and artist. Examples shown included pet rabbits, birds, horses, tortoises, fishes, on top of your conventional dogs and cats.

Source: Google (blog)

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