Tired of sticking your tongue out to watch that Snapchat augmented reality mask change into a puppy dog face? Snapchat has a new lens reaction that responds to sound. Now in the Snapchat selfie mask carousel is a new animal face mask changes based on the sound in the environment.
The new mask is a pair of neon-colored, round ears, a heart-shaped nose, and a pair of whiskers. The mask is also one of Snapchat’s options that work with multiple people in the image. When the sound in the room gets louder, the ears grow. The filter’s colors and sparkles also adjust with the sound. Like other Snapchat filters, the new sound filter can be used for both stills and video, with the latter showing off the sound reactions. It also includes an electronic-sounding edit of that audio with the video file.
Neon disco ears not your thing? Snapchat says additional sound-based filters are coming, according to Engadget. Snapchat hasn’t yet shared what those lenses will look like, but says they will roll out over the next few weeks.
Snapchat’s lens carousel already has several filters that react based on what the camera sees, but the new animal mask appears to be the first that reacts to sound. Other existing masks react to facial expressions, including the puppy dog face that adds a dog tongue when users stick their own tongue out. Other filters are equipped with a voice changer, but the visual filter itself doesn’t react with the sounds in the room.
The latest filter expands Snapchat’s heavily imitated augmented reality camera. Snapchat also recently added playable AR games to its queue. The company’s latest updates also include unskippable video ads.
The new filter type comes as Snapchat is experiencing slowed user growth after redesigning the app. The slowdown was predicted ahead of the design changes by CEO Evan Spiegel, but the company pressed forward in order to try to make Snapchat easier to navigate for new users. Some users are unhappy with the change, and Snapchat has responded at least in part by relocating Stories to make them easier to find.
