📸 The Photo Booth is dead, Long live the AI Photo Booth! 👑

The Evolution of Photographic Brand Experiences

The landscape of photographic brand experiences has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade. Traditional photo booths have developed into a wide range of immersive experiences. A small selection of these innovations includes:

• Green screens
• GIF booths
• Bullet-time booths
• Video booths
• Virtual booths
• AR filters
• 360-degree booths

Yet, amid these innovations, the pursuit of cost efficiency and the search for the “next big thing” have remained constant. Marketers have long sought creative executions using existing tools and technology, leading to incremental innovation and gradual change across the market.

That all shifted in 2023.

Enter: The AI Photo Booth

AI photo booths began to emerge in 2023, gradually making their mark on the industry.

At first, however, inconsistency in likeness and inherent randomness slowed adoption. During early testing, it wasn’t unusual to hear the phrase “it sort of looks like me”. Issues such as three hands, distorted fingers and multiple limbs highlighted the limitations of the early systems.

This presented a real challenge. When releasing branded content to the world, logo fidelity and consistency are non-negotiable. Any technology used in activations must guarantee brand accuracy as well as creative flair.

We’ve been part of several early success stories in branded, AI-generated user content. The key has been to leverage AI for its strengths — producing unique, personalised creative outputs — while combining it with a robust image compositing pipeline to ensure logos and branding are reproduced with complete accuracy.

Our journey with AI image generation has been exactly that: a mission to get it right. And we’ve never stopped improving on those initial successes.

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Progression of the Snapmatix AI Image generations from initial tests in December 2022 through to Gen 2.0 AI Photo Booth outputs in December 2023

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Key to Adoption of an AI Photo Booth as Part of Your Brand Activation’s Success

The key to success lies in hands-on engagement with brand custodians. This means demonstrating the solution in person and showcasing its full potential. Nothing else comes close. Viewing carefully selected pictures online is one thing, but trying it out for yourself is another.

When considering an AI photo booth activation, it is vital to understand the types of outputs that can be created and how consistent they are. We’ve written an analysis of the different types of AI photo booths currently on the market (as of January 2024) — so know your AI photo booth and what it can do.

Why Choose an AI Photo Booth Over a Traditional Booth?

With a traditional photo booth, the output images are largely the same: the same overlay, some background variation, and the user being the only difference.

With AI image generation, every image is unique. The technology picks up cues from the user’s visual appearance and uses them to create a custom image that incorporates their likeness. It’s the ultimate personalised brand experience.

That’s what makes them valuable: the uniqueness of the output, compared with the repetitive sameness of traditional booths.

Why is This Content So Valuable to Users?

AI photo booths extend beyond novelty. They tap into our natural need for social approval by generating unique branded images that reflect each user’s likeness. This positions participants at the forefront of innovation while giving them content they are proud to share.

What’s Next?

The rise of AI photo booths marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of event photography. They embody the balance between technological innovation and human creativity, offering an unrivalled blend of entertainment, personalisation and branding.

The Snapmatix AI photo booth empowers event marketers to deliver bespoke experiences that captivate and engage audiences. It’s about creating an immersive journey that transforms moments into lasting memories.

Over the next six months, AI photo booths will rapidly expand across the market. The real measure of success, however, will be in delivering visually engaging, high-quality content — not just novelty outputs like Christmas elves, wizards or superheroes.

As the events landscape continues to evolve, AI photo booths are fast becoming an indispensable tool, shaping unforgettable experiences one snapshot at a time.

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