Google launches Pet Portraits app to find 'art doubles'

Google has launched a new tool which matches pets to their "art doubles".

Pet Portraits - which uses machine learning to match someone's furry friend with their doppelganger from collections in institutions around the world - has been added to the tech giant's Arts & Culture App for both iOS and Android.

Michelle Luo - Product Manager, Google Arts & Culture - explained in a blog post: "When you take a photo in Pet Portraits, our trained computer vision algorithm recognises where your pet is, crops the image and puts them where they belong: front and centre.

"Once that is done, a machine learning algorithm matches your pet’s photo with over tens of thousands of artworks from our partners’ outstanding collections to find the ones that look most similar.

"Now it’s time for them to enter the spotlight: Share your pet’s #PetPortraits as a single still image or select multiple images to animate together as a GIF slideshow."

The feature also allows people to tap on the result to learn more about the stories and artists behind each piece of art.

Luo added: "Pet Portraits [is] a way for your dog, cat, fish, bird, reptile, horse, or rabbit to discover their very own art doubles among tens of thousands of works from partner institutions around the world.

"Your animal companion could be matched with ancient Egyptian figurines, vibrant Mexican street art, serene Chinese watercolours, and more."

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