Augmented reality startup Blippar hopes to turn your face into a digital billboard

The latest product from augmented reality startup Blippar has a simple, if somewhat

unnerving, pitch: what if you could turn your face into a digital billboard? The company’s new Halos feature allows you to do exactly that. You scan your likeness with the Blippar app and it saves a version of you on its servers. You can then fill out some personal tidbits, like your favorite music or latest tweets, and anyone who “blipps” you in future (i.e., scans your face with the app) will see this information as a halo of bubbles floating around your head. “[It’s] your unique way to express yourself,” Blippar CEO Ambarish Mitra tells The Verge. “Your face is like your billboard — we recognize human beings by their faces — and this is like a digital manifestation of that.” Conceptually, it’s a bit weird, but the facial recognition part is quick and accurate, and for Blippar that’s what matters most. The company says it’s pitching the app to consumers, but also wants it to act as advertising for its technology (a billboard, if you will) that it hopes to sell to third parties. Mitra suggests the tech could be incorporated by banks for authentication purposes, or by apps for conferences and events, with attendees able to scan each other’s faces to find out who they are and what they do. Anyone can sign up for Halos now, but the feature actually launched last year for celebrities only. Since then, though, a number of reports have suggested that the UK startup is struggling to makes its business work.                                                                                                     https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/19/15989648/blippar-facial-recognition-billboards-ar