Google Inc. is bringing something novel to the world of emoji: a combination of neural networks and art that enables users to morph their selfies into emojis.

Unlike current customized emoji apps, such as Snapchat Inc.’s Bitmoji, the new Google technology uses both machine learning and neural networks to map the user’s face and create a cartoon version of it.

The unnamed technology can be used only in Google’s chat app, Allo. After the user’s face is mapped, a cartoon image, based on designs by artist Lamar Abrams, will be generated. The user then has the option to customize the image. According to Google, there are “563 quadrillion combinations,” making each selfie emoji one of a kind.

While running experiments with Google’s vision neural networks, researchers found some neurons were adept at focusing on things without having to be trained to do so. This gave researchers at Google the impetus to develop something that could create an image based not only on the obvious aspects of a face – hair color, skin color, glasses or a round head – but on the nuances that exist in the context of every living face.

“We discovered that a few neurons among the millions in these networks were good at focusing on things they weren’t explicitly trained to look at that seemed useful for creating personalized stickers,” Google said in a blog post.

Google had artists create designs to represent every conceivable hair style, shape of nose, lips and eyes. The neural network then matches the user’s image to the designs that fit closest. Google said it attempted to avoid what is known in aesthetics as the “Uncanny Valley” – the uneasy reaction that people have when viewing a human replica that is both too realistic and not quite real enough. Google’s solution was to create “an image that is less about reproducing reality and more about breaking the rules of representation.” Thus, facial features have a caricatured instead of realistic appearance.

Google plans to add an iOS version of the new technology in addition to the one now available on the Android version of Allo. The technology follows on the heels of other user-friendly Google ventures into artificial intelligence such as AutoDraw, an app for computer-aided doodling.

Jennifer Daniel, Allo’s Expressions creative director, said the feature shouldn’t be taken too seriously in that it speaks to “your sarcastic side.” However, Google has big hopes of revolutionizing the emoji in the near future. “If emojis broadened the world of communication, it’s not hard to imagine how this technology and language evolves,” she said.

Image: Google