Runner-up Prize, Interactive Division - Ekopyon Filter

We created an AR filter that can be used with the camera within Instagram, in which the words "HOSEI" and "Ekopyon" appear in response to facial movements.

This is an original AR filter that can be used with Instagram's "Story" camera function. Ekopyon's face appears on both cheeks and the word "HOSEI" appears as if it is stuck on her nose. We thought it would be fun if everyone could use this filter to take pictures with their friends not only at events such as school festivals and new student festivals, but also in everyday school life, so we added three variations where the color of the letters changes when tapped, and a function that allows up to five people to reflect the filter at the same time. It recognizes faces and follows them, so you can enjoy changing the angle or making a movie of them.

I drew an illustration of Ekopyon and the word "HOSEI" using ibisPaint X software on my iPad. Save it in PNG format, place it on top of the face tracker mask image in Adobe Illustrator, and save it in PNG format with the face tracker image hidden. At this time, we created and saved three different color versions of the text. Using this material, we created a system in Spark AR Studio to recognize faces and have illustrations follow the face. We also added the ability to switch filters when tapped on the same software and the ability to support multiple people.

This "Ekopyon Filter" for Instagram is a fun piece of work that we feel Hosei University would love to see implemented in society. With face tracking that supports multiple people and finely tuned graphics that follow, it is easy to imagine that this content will be popular at events and the like. It is also very interesting in that it suggests that "Ekopyon," which has grown into a character loved by many people, could be developed in a variety of areas in the future.