The Future of Gaming Is on Your Face, on Instagram

Instagram game filters could make augmented reality more mainstream, experts say

Drew Costley
OneZero

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Illustration: Janet Mac

I was clicking through my Instagram Stories recently and, at first, it was business as usual, at least as far as Pandemic Instagram goes. My editor was showing off her ill culinary skills. A friend of mine was serving face through the reflection in his bedroom mirror. Another zoomed in and out of their face to communicate their simultaneous boredom and anxiety.

But then I saw something I’d never seen before. Someone I follow was using their face to cut through watermelons, pineapples, strawberries, and pears.

Well, not literally. They were playing a game on Instagram called Cut Fruit, which is inspired by the once-popular mobile game Fruit Ninja.

In the Instagram version of the game, you slice through a variety of fruits to earn points. Instead of using your fingers to control the gameplay, though, you use your face. And once you’ve earned a score worthy of sharing with your friends, you can post it to Instagram Stories, just like the filters that make you look like a dog or tell you which Disney character you are.

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