To learn more about this fun and unique new feature, we sat down with members of the AR Emoji’s design team, Wonhyung Cho and Hye-Bong Kim, from the Global Product Planning Group, and Hoik Hwang and Jiyoun Kim, from the UX Design Group.

Hoik Hwang, Hye-Bong Kim, Wonhyung Cho and Jiyoun Kim (from left)

Q. What was the inspiration behind the Galaxy S9’s AR Emoji feature?

Wonhyung Cho: People are communicating more and more through their smartphones, sending messages to each other throughout the day. Many of us are also looking for new ways to express a range of emotions in the short messages we send each other, and in this context, emoticons and emojis have become one of the most popular ways to express ourselves. As a next step, we wanted to go further and blend the emerging technology of AR with emoticon and emoji tools for a new form of visual communication.

Q. What makes the Galaxy S9’s AR Emoji special?

Cho: We thought for a long time about what the word ‘communication’ means today and it became clear that a large part of communication is ‘self-expression’. As a team, we wanted to make the feature as personal as possible by capturing our unique emotions, using an innovative technology like AR. In creating a My Emoji which captures your own distinct facial features, AR Emojis can provide a truer form of self-expression.

Hye-Bong Kim: The camera uses facial recognition technology to analyze a photo of your face and map more than 100 facial features. Using these data points, a 3D modeling form specialized for the contours of the human face creates a 3D My Emoji and 18 My Emoji stickers which reflect your unique facial features.

Q. How have users reacted to the feature?

Cho: AR Emoji has generated a lot of curiosity – it’s such a fun feature and many people want to see how their My Emoji looks.

Hoik Hwang: For everyone, the question is not ‘does this look like me?’, but rather ‘does this look like I want it to?’ AR Emoji actually creates two types of My Emoji: one that is realistic and one that is more like a cartoon. Some people like the first kind, while others prefer the second.

We want AR Emoji to be the best it can be. A close resemblance to the user isn’t the only thing we considered when developing the feature. Our goal was for creators to be able to use the AR Emoji to express themselves, however they want to look.

We’re currently working to allow users to make their My Emojis better express the mood they want them to.

Q. When it came to UX design, what was your key consideration?

Jiyoun Kim: AR Emoji uses the Galaxy S9’s camera, so we wanted to integrate it with the camera’s UX. From start to finish, the user’s journey while creating their My Emoji and My Emoji stickers has to be simple and engaging.

Then we thought about how people might want to use the feature to express themselves in their daily lives. AR Emoji offers a new way tell our stories and because of that we felt that making it available across many platforms was important.

We created 18 stickers, which each communicate a different emotion. They can be stored in your smartphone Gallery application, can be used freely in your different applications and messaging services and are available as both PNG and GIF files.

Q. How did you go about designing the 18 My Emoji stickers?

Hwang: Our goal was to create emoji stickers that would communicate the same emotions across the world – and would mean the same thing in any country. We read a lot of research as we tried to categorize human emotions and to determine what the visual representations of fundamental human feelings – things like joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure – should be.

In time, the number of stickers will increase to 54 so that even more emotions will be expressed using the emoji stickers.

Q. Did you encounter any difficulties while designing AR Emoji?

Hwang: AR is an innovative technology and the AR field is quite new. We collected data from people around the world, interviewing them to discover their needs and ensure that the feature delivered on those needs.

As a team, we continue to collect this data so that we can make AR Emojis even better. User feedback helps us discover not only what consumers really want, but how we can make adjustments to this new technology.

Q. Can you elaborate on your experiences working with Disney to create the Mickey and Minnie Mouse AR Emojis?

Hwang: Like lots of people, I grew up with Mickey Mouse. I never thought that I would be working on a project like this with Disney when I grew up. When we first started I was really excited and couldn’t stop thinking, “Is this really happening?”

Throughout the project, we engaged in a great deal of knowledge sharing with Disney. For example, there’s a feature known as Blend Shape that allows the feature to recreate 75 basic user facial expressions – for example, if you combine two different facial expressions, you will produce a completely new one – explaining how this feature worked was time-intensive. But by working together, we were able to create these unique Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse AR Emojis.

Q. As AR Emoji designers, can you share some tips for creating an AR Emoji?

Jiyoun Kim: First, you need to be in a place with plenty of light – the brighter the better – like when you want to take a selfie. Make sure your face is not hidden by your hair or any other objects. Position your face fully inside the circular frame on the screen and take a photo. Just relax and be natural. After your My Emoji has been created, you can make manual adjustments to skin tone, hair style and color, clothing and other features, to your liking.

Q. Do you have any advice for making the most of the feature?

Hwang: I have seen videos where people create stories by recording their own voice for the dialogue, and use AR Emojis to act out the parts, which are really fun to watch. It’s a new and innovative way to use My Emoji. You can use them to present something your own behalf and remain almost anonymous at the same time.

Hye-Bong Kim: You don’t have to make just one AR Emoji. You can make several characters, as the mood takes you. Give your My Emoji a hairstyle you want try or a funky outfit you would never normally wear. Create AR Emojis of family or friends and share them with each other.

We like to make a game out of changing the hair styles and other features of the My Emojis, then guessing which one belongs to which team member, which is quite amusing.

Q. Can you suggest how users can get the most out characters like Mickey Mouse?

Cho: They are perfect for creating your own cartoon or animation. Since they are designed to mirror human facial expressions, you can make your characters express a range of emotions and make up a whole story using them.

Currently, there are more than three million people worldwide living with aphasia, a disorder that causes the loss of language capabilities. Aphasia is often the result of an injury to the parts of the brain that are responsible for speaking, reading, writing and understanding others.

Given the fact that language is the most important tool to communicate, aphasia can have negative effects on one’s social relationships and often takes a toll on one’s emotions.  But recent studies show that emojis, which are predicted to become a universal visual language of the future, can help people with language disorders like aphasia better express themselves.

Developed in collaboration with a team of speech therapists, Samsung Wemogee functions as a kind of translator between text and emojis. The app includes a library of more than 140 phrases related to basic needs and emotional expressions. The predefined phrases are translated into logical sequences of emojis and are divided into six main categories including: everyday life, eating and drinking, feelings, help, recreational activities, and anniversaries and celebrations.

Through a simple and intuitive interface, aphasic patients identify what they want to communicate through a panel of visual options, sending the chosen sequence of emojis to the non-aphasic recipient. The non-aphasic user will receive the message in text form and can then reply using pre-set textual phrases. Wemogee also works as a home practicing tool, enhancing the effectiveness of traditional rehabilitation treatment of aphasia.

“Aphasic patients understand emojis because they depict all aspects of emotions. The use of gestures, images and facial expressions is a function perfectly preserved in understanding and often also in the production of language,” explained Francesca Polini, a speech therapist and professor at the University of Milan, and codeveloper of the Wemogee app. “A pre-set list of well-defined phrases that refer to the most immediate needs of the individual is essential.”

Through the new Wemogee communication tool, Samsung hopes to continue to enhance the way all people interact with the ones they love.

The Android-compatible application will be available for free download on Google Play beginning April 28 and supports English and Italian languages. For more information, visit the Wemogee website.

There’s no denying that technology can wow us with amazing experiences – virtual reality headsets, driverless cars, smart fridges – but as the pace of innovation quickens new research from Samsung Electronics shows Europeans are struggling to keep up with the changing language of tech. The new study from Samsung Europe shows that while excitement around technology is growing, the industry faces a growing risk of leaving consumers behind with confusing tech terminology.

Europeans are embracing the digital revolution like never before, with 52% of people revealing that they use technology much more than two years ago, and 13% admitting they couldn’t live without it. Over half of the 10,000 people surveyed across Europe are excited by the latest innovations like the Cloud or the Internet of Things, but nearly three quarters (72%) admitted that they often pretend to know what the latest tech terms really mean.

Nearly a quarter of people (23%) said confusing terminology prevents them from using a product to its full potential, 43% said that they owned at least one item of technology which was more advanced than they needed and 11% feel left behind by technology.

David Lowes, CMO of Samsung Electronics Europe, said:  “Our research shows that terminology used in today’s technology can be a barrier for some consumers. We are taking a number of steps to address this, including simplifying the language we use and giving 400,000 young people digital skills training. However we believe this is an industry wide issue that will stand in the way of technological progress if left unchecked.

“As we push the boundaries of mobile, digital and TV technology even further, our industry has to be mindful of how we make the benefits accessible to everyone and support those who are not yet comfortable with the latest concepts like the Internet of Things. It’s important we bring everyone with us, which is why we invest heavily in creating products that are truly smart – simple, user friendly, secure and easy to understand. We also provide straightforward customer support from our experts online and in our retail outlets.”

The research was conducted by Samsung Electronics Europe amongst more than 10,000 Europeans across 18 countries to investigate how our relationship with technology is changing as part of its ongoing research. In response to the research, Samsung Europe has created a handy glossary ‘The Plain Tech Guide’ to explain what the latest terms mean and how they help our lives.

To ensure future generations are comfortable with the latest technology, Samsung is partnering with schools and universities to facilitate enhanced learning of digital skills through two core programmes: Smart Classrooms and Tech Institutes. Samsung’s goal is to directly reach 400,000 young people across Europe by 2020 making the pledge as part of the European Commission’s Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs. So far Samsung has set up over 600 smart classrooms, 48 tech institutes and engaged over 100,000 young people. Samsung is already starting to see positive outcomes from these efforts – 1 in 4 students in Samsung’s Digital Academies gained a place in higher level training before the end of their course*.

Europeans Love Emojis

While tech language develops, so does the way people are choosing to express themselves in visual forms. Emojis have been referred to as a new international language, but the Samsung study found that many people are struggling to get to grips with what these new characters really are. Romanians were found to be least familiar with them – 27% have pretended to know more than they do about emojis, closely followed by Italy (26%). In Bulgaria however, just one in 20 (5%) admitted to overstating their emoji knowledge.

Most Useful Apps

The research also investigated the apps which Europeans find most useful. Map apps were revealed to be the app which Europeans feel have had the biggest impact on them in terms of making their lives easier – something noted by 66%. This was followed by weather apps (56%) and phone cameras (51%).

David Lowes, CMO of Samsung Electronics Europe, said:  “Despite predictions of fatigue with new devices, it is encouraging to see Europeans embrace their technology like never before. It’s great that  55% of people are excited by the latest innovations like the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, and we know from our sales that millions of Europeans have taken up our challenge to ‘rethink what a phone can do’. We seek to create products that are desirable, durable and user friendly, and this data is a useful reminder that we need to make sure we never let complex technical language stand in the way of useful innovation and progress.”

UNDERSTANDING ‘TECH-TERMINOLOGY’: the top five misunderstood tech terms explained

1. The Cloud: Services that invisibly run on the Internet instead of having files saved on your device. With an Internet connection you can watch Netflix or use Gmail anywhere.

2. Streaming: Simply listening to music or watching a movie online, when it suits you.

3. The Internet of Things: A simple network of devices that enables smartphones, fridges and washing machines to work together to make life easier.

4. Fibre optic: Fibre optics are more powerful versions of telephone cables. They can be used to send coded information in a beam of light down a glass or plastic pipe. Each strand is less than a tenth as thick as a human hair but can carry data equivalent to 25,000 telephone calls.

5. Emojis: Ever use a smiley face in a text message? Originally from Japan, emojis are mini images or characters used to express how we feel and what we’re thinking.

*Source: The evaluation of the Smart Classroom and Digital Academy outcomes was carried out in 15 countries during the 2014/2015 academic year.