While Jackson is in the news for “Leaving Neverland,” the two-part documentary from filmmaker Dan Reed about Wade Robson and James Safechuck’s claims of sexual abuse by the pop star, the ad spot largely just highlighted what’s absent from the Grammys. Glover’s always striking moves stood in stark contrast to the spot onstage where Glover, who skipped the ceremony entirely, would have been standing to accept one of the night’s marquee awards.<doc-sep>Childish Gambino starred in a Google Pixel 3 ad that aired during the Grammys on Sunday night (Feb. 10), featuring a brand new song titled "Human Sacrifice." The ad shows the rapper as he takes on his playmoji in a dance off. The realistic animated replication suddently turns to light as the chorus hits: "Turn all the lights out/We shine brighter in the dark." The commercial was a collaborative effort between Royalty and Cashmere Agency and the production company Mamag Studios, along with Donald Glover, who receives writing and directing credits as well.<doc-sep>Last week saw the release of a new augmented reality character for the Google Pixel 3 phone — an animated Childish Gambino moving to his own music — and Sunday saw the dancing Donald Glover make his big debut via a Google commercial during the Grammys. “Only on Pixel” is the tagline at the end of the commercial (watch it below), and the animated, dancing avatar (see it above) has been branded a “Playmoji” by Google. It’s the latest augmented reality feature in the Google Playground app that comes preloaded in the phone’s camera. When the Pixel 3 debuted in October, so did Playground, and that debut blog post from Google even included this tease: “…coming later this year, you’ll be able to sharpen your dance skills with moves from Childish Gambino.” What Song Is in the Google Grammys Commercial? The song in the Childish Gambino Google Grammys commercial is “Human Sacrifice,” an unreleased track. The songs that come with Playmoji, though, are “Redbone,” “Summertime Magic,” and “This Is America,” which won the 2019 Grammys for song and record of the year — becoming the first rap song to win the show’s top honors in the history of the awards show. In all, “This Is America” won four Grammys. So, how do you get this — maybe the best use of phone-based augmented reality yet, better than even the AR tape measure nobody actually uses — on your phone? How to Get Childish Gambino on Your Phone You have to have a Google Pixel (any model will do; the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, and Pixel 3 XL all have the Playground feature). When or if you have a Pixel, you have Playground, and you have Childish Gambino: Open up the camera Swipe right on the menu until you see “More” Select “Playground” from the menu Click on the sticker icon of a smiling face Click “Playmoji” You’ll have the option to download the Childish Gambino Playmoji. The Playmoji, which was released on February 5 and only got coverage from Google-centric sites like 9 to 5 Google, was the number one app in the Trending section of the Google Play store on Monday morning. As for Glover, the history-making actor/rapper declined to attend or perform at the Grammys, making the 35-year-old’s Playmoji his only presence on Sunday night. “I’m not sure where Donald is,” said “This Is America” engineer Riley Mackin backstage, reported the New York Daily News. He also said he saw him a few days earlier, but that he walked out of the studio and didn’t come back. “I haven’t seen him since,” Mackin said. ”I think everything Donald does is a little strange,” Mackin told the Daily News when asked if he thought the absence of Glover was strange. Google’s promoting the hashtag #pixeldanceoff along with the new Playmoji, urging people to dance along. Google does make it look pretty fun. Is It Better Than the Snapchat Dancing Hot Dog? So, how good is this AR Childish Gambino? The Google Playground feature feels a lot like the true heir to the Snapchat dancing hot dog. High praise, yes; but I think it’s close. However, the relatively limited scope — it’s only available to people with a Pixel phone — may not make it as ubiquitous as the dancing hot dog that became a meme in the summer of 2017. If dancing along with Gambino on a Monday in February is just too much to ask, you can always have the AR Glover keep you company.<doc-sep>Childish Gambino has demonstrated Google’s latest feature in a fittingly strange and animated style. Right in the middle of the Grammys, the rapper appeared in an ad that first appeared to show him dancing with a mirrored version of himself. But it quickly became clear that the two were slightly different – and then, shortly after, one of them revealed itself to be an animated, virtual version of the singer. The ad was made to demonstrate Google’s new feature called Playmoji, which allows people to hang out with virtual versions of celebrities and other characters. The tool allows people to brighten up their photos or videos by adding a dancing singer or fighting superheroes in the background, for instance. All of those characters are overlaid using Google augmented reality technology which means they fit smoothly into the area around them. The virtual characters will cast shadows and move around in the light, for instance, as if they were really in the video. The video showed off the new Childish Gambino version of the Playmoji, which is able to dance to his real hits as well as allowing people to take selfies and videos that will see the character react to your own facial expressions. But there are many more waiting in the app, all relatively easy to add in.<doc-sep>
With the launch of the Pixel 3 in October, Google revamped AR Stickers to Playmoji and added a slew of new functionality. Alongside a redesigned interface, the company also teased an exclusive Childish Gambino pack that finally launched on Friday. At the Grammys this evening, Made by Google advertised the Pixel’s exclusive AR feature. The Google ad aired 40 minutes into the 61st edition of the annual music awards show and features the actual Childish Gambino next to his virtual counterpart in the same outfit. The minute-long ad is a dance-off between the two, with each one-upping the other before the digital character bursts into light, timed with a “turn on the lights” lyric. As the clip comes to a close, a Pixel 3 XL flashes onscreen with a Playmoji logo telling users what they just watched. Google notes that it is available “Only on Pixel” before animating the ‘G’ logo. This is one of the company’s better ads in large part due to Donald Glover and the Childish Gambino Playmoji emoting quite well and sassing the other. Google allows the technology it is advertising to take center stage, and does not detail it, the phone, or the brand until the very end. Available now on the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, owners can head into the Google Camera app and launch the Playmoji mode to download the pack. Users can then place the Childish Gambino character into any scene to take a picture or record a video. In fact, Google has a #pixeldanceoff hashtag for people to post their dance-off recreations. Google says that it “worked closely with Childish Gambino and his music video choreographer, Sherrie Silver, to make sure the Playmoji’s dance moves rival those of Childish Gambino himself,” as today’s ad proves. Playmoji takes advantage of several Google technologies from ARCore to machine learning. Google’s platform for mobile augmented reality helps with motion tracking and light estimation to make the virtual Childish Gambino interactive and feel lifelike. Meanwhile, ML is leveraged to react to your facial expression in real-time when taking selfies. Other Google-exclusive sticker packs include the Avengers, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Stranger Things, as well as several other first-part ones like Food, Pets, Sports, and Weather. During the lead-up to the Grammys, Apple advertised its competing Memoji and aired is own ad after Google at the show tonight. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: