Samsung, Disney Partnership Brings ‘The Incredibles’ AR Emoji Avatars To Galaxy S9

When Samsung launched the Galaxy S9 back in February, it also introduced a new feature called AR Emoji that creates animated emojis. The tech giant then announced its partnership with Disney so the latter could bring its famous cartoon characters to the augmented reality-based feature of the new flagship phone.

On Thursday, Samsung and Disney introduced the newest additions to the AR Emoji feature of the Galaxy S9. The new avatars are from the characters of the Super family-centered animated film “The Incredibles.”

Starting this week, Galaxy S9 owners can personalize their messages with the avatars of Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack. Not only that, Disney has also included the Super family’s dear friend, Frozone, into the mix.

The addition of the “Incredibles” characters into the Galaxy S9’s AR Emoji comes weeks before “The Incredibles 2” hits cinemas on June 15, 2018. So it goes without saying that this is a move made by Disney to promote the upcoming flick to Samsung Galaxy S9 users.

The “Incredibles” team joins Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck — the first three characters that Disney launched on Samsung’s AR Emoji platform. Should Disney follow the same pattern for its future avatar releases, then fans could expect the next set of characters to be from the upcoming “Wreck-It Ralph 2” movie that’s scheduled to premiere in November.

When Samsung announced that it was partnering with Disney for its AR Emoji characters, many were shocked because Disney has also partnered with Apple for the preloaded Mickey and Minnie Mouse watch faces on the Apple Watch smartwatches. By inking a deal with Disney however, Samsung has ensured that the entertainment company’s famous characters will find their way to its products first.

AR Emoji is a new technology by Samsung that gives S9 and S9+ owners the ability to create an animated digital version of their faces. It’s pretty similar to Apple’s Animoji for the iPhone X, but Samsung has vehemently denied that it copied the feature from its rival, according to Sammobile.

Samsung’s implementation may not be as great as Apple’s, but the South Korean firm prides itself on creating a technology that tracks over 100 facial features before creating a digital avatar. Meanwhile, Apple’s Animoji utilizes iPhone X’s Face ID technology to accurately emulate a person’s face.