Forward-facing eyes on a big round face, roundish ears, vulnerable smile… the cute factor can make people go “ohmigosh”. Living a digital life for more than a year, it’s fine if reality appears blurry. Chances are many of us have given into apps and filters that make Pixar-style animated characters out of us, the latest being Voila AI Artist.

In the mould of FaceApp, which went viral in 2019, Voila AI Artist offers the touch of cartoon prince and princess. The technology at play is not uncommon and involves artificial intelligence. Free to download on Android and iOS devices but after a point you may get tempted to make in-app purchases. Though the app has been listed in the Google Play Store but it’s not accessible in India for the time being, so our experience involves the iPhone version.

Once downloaded, the app has four categories to choose from — 3D cartoon, 2D cartoon, Renaissance and caricature. You are taken into the next section, which involves selecting or snapping a photo. Either you can give the app access to your entire gallery or choose a particular photo. The other two options are get a photo clicked within the app or choose a celebrity (like Messi, Disha Patani or Shah Rukh Khan), which basically takes a bunch of photos from the Internet and turn these into caricatures or whatever option you have chosen.

During processing, there is the temptation to click on “Speed Up” which results in quicker results, otherwise you will be made to sit through advertisements (and there is a truckload of that).

The end results are somewhat amusing and on point. After the results appear on the screen, you can choose filters like Royalty 3D, Funny 3D, Cartoon 3D, Villain 3D and Baby Villain 3D. Finally, you can share and save.

Not that the results are bad but there are some drawbacks, like the background-subject separation is not always good and you can’t have furry animals in the picture. Plus, you can’t do a live picture processing when it involves more than one person... at least, we couldn’t while trying out the app.

Where the app fails is advertisements and more advertisements, which can be tackled with a subscription (not a one-time fee). A far more important issue is privacy as photos are deleted only after 24 to 48 hours. And the app may use your data for targeted advertising, something that has sadly become common. So venture only if you are adventurous.