Google Effects: The wildly popular new tool that lets video chatters wear virtual monocles, tiaras, and puppy faces. - Slate Magazine

A different type of augmented reality and some serious questions about video chat market uptake

"“Google Effects” lets you adorn your on-screen image with ridiculous accoutrements. Pirate hats, tiaras, monocles. When you play around with these props, their popularity at first seems intuitive. Pirate hats are badass. Tiaras are regal. Monocles lend the wearer an air of aristocratic refinement. The fluidity of the software itself is also stunning: The hats, glasses, and facial hair instantly scale to your face and track your image around the screen, retaining proper size and orientation as you lean forward and back or sway side to side."

Google Effects: The wildly popular new tool that lets video chatters wear virtual monocles, tiaras, and puppy faces. - Slate Magazine