nstaBook was motion graphic commissioned and launched in 2012. That year, Facebook bought Instagram for $1 trillion, and Facebook was rumoured to release its own smartphone (https://mashable.com/2012/05/27/facebook-smartphone/). This video playfully tries to guess what the company’s next actions might be.
In the same showreel as Spiderman
This video was a way for us to learn motion tracking and background removal.
We apparently did a good job of that, because a few months later we got a message from Mocha, the makers of the motion tracking software we use. They asked if they could use part of our video in their 2013 showreel. Of course we said yes.
This is how our work can be seen alongside masterful productions like ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ and ‘The Silver Linings Playbook’.
It is recommended to watch from 2:40 to 2:48.
10 years later
The purpose of the motion graphic is clear, but it is presented as a kind of surreal commercial, ala ‘Black Mirror’. Coincidentally, it has also become a kind of time capsule. All the features and functions mentioned were completely impossible 10 years ago. 10 years later, story is completely different.
One obvious mistake is the name, Instabook, a combination of “Facebook” and “Instagram” but that was just a stupid pun.
Now Facebook – or rather Meta – is investing heavily in both virtual and augmented reality. It is unrealistic at this point that Meta will release a smartphone. Now something similar, an AR headset, like the recently released Meta Quest 2, which would have an app like Instabook. Where you can e.g. use a book as a camera, or use a newspaper as a Facebook feed. Well, that in my opinion is only a matter of time .
Now is completely out of the question that within 10 years there will be a camera that can photoshop live?
No, it can be done with almost every smartphone sold these days.
You could say we have come a long way with photo filters. And with the recent rise of AI image generation and analysis, it is probably possible to actually do everything shown in the video. This seems to be my most correct prediction.
The more complex features I mentioned in the video are available in the latest version of Photoshop. For the less complex ones, you won’t need Photoshop for some time.
What can’t change in 10 years? What will happen in 20 years? Who knows. Maybe I’ll come back to it then.
