News: FaceCake Uses Snapchat-Like Camera Effects to Let You Try on Earrings Instead of Masks & Rainbows

Although it sounds like a foodie's take on Facebook, what Calabasas, California-based FaceCake actually offers is more about augmented reality fashion marketing rather than food selfies.

At the National Retail Federation's Big Show & Expo in New York this week, the company unveiled its latest augmented reality solution called Dangle, an AR tool that gives slow-to-new-tech brick-and-mortar retailers a bridge to the future of shopping.

The tool lets customers try on virtual pairs of earrings with Snapchat-like camera effects. In addition to seeing how various earrings look on your earlobes, you can also try different colored earrings, and share a preview of any look on social media before purchasing the earrings through the Dangle app.

Dangle also employs artificial intelligence to recommend selections that complement the customer's physical attributes, such as face shape, skin tone, and hair color. New products can also be curated for shoppers in their customized Jewelry Box.

With Dangle, FaceCake takes a similar approach to ModiFace's cosmetics try-on tool, offering an app platform that retailers can use to deploy in their own mobile apps, websites, or in-store displays. So no, individual users can't download this as an app (yet).

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"For augmented reality shopping and virtual try-on, realism is key in our intuitive, easy-to-use platform," said Linda Smith, the founder and CEO of FaceCake, in a statement. "With our latest application, Dangle, we solve the biggest shopping challenges for earrings—actual size and how shape and color fit your personal style."

FaceCake also offers other AR solutions for retailers, such as ShadeScout, a cosmetics try-on app in the vein of ModiFace and YouCam Makeup. And for in-store experiences, the company's crown jewel (no pun intended) is called Swivel (see above), a tool that acts as an augmented reality dressing room, allowing customers to try-on a variety of virtual apparel and accessories in real time.

While ecommerce has been blamed for the downfall of the retail industry, more nimble retailers have adopted a multi-channel approach to the customer experience in which the purchasing process is painless over the phone, on the web, or via mobile devices. FaceCake's suite of AR tools fit perfectly into that kind of multi-channel approach, while also giving consumers an even easier way to try their jewelry swag before they buy.

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