PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A unique 360-degree "donut selfie" that captures a person and the surroundings is making its rounds on social media.
This new take on the selfie was introduced by former Microsoft employee Karen X. Cheng, who discovered this innovative selfie style by playing around with her phone camera in an attempt to create optical illusions.
You may remember Cheng from her video on how to dance in a year that went viral with over four million views. Her success spurred her to create website Give it 100, that encourages people to share their 100-day projects.
But Cheng has since been busy with her new donut selfie project, and has even created a website to feature tutorial videos and user submissions of their own donut selfie compilations.
Cheng explains how she came up with the innovative selfie: "I did one that was from one side of my head to the other - made a donut around my head - and the video started looping and woahhhh that looks cool."
"Soon enough I was running all around the city trying to get cool shots, playing with slo-mo effects and iPhone lens attachments, and this is the result," said Cheng on her donut selfie website.
Cheng said that the donut selfie is unlike any other selfie, and it's not just a flat image.
"Selfies are usually flat images and nothing has changed besides some filters. But in the meantime our phone cameras have gotten way more advanced," she said.
Cheng said that the donut selfie is a "gorgeous way to capture yourself and your surroundings".
"It lets you better capture a moment in time - you can make a movie of your life.
"And the best part is you don't need an expensive cameras or rigs - you can just use what you already have on you," she said.
So how does the donut selfie work?
You basically hold your phone camera in video mode, with the lens facing you, and sweep the camera from one side of your head to the other in a donut shape, so that the camera catches you and your surroundings.
You can even collate a number of donut selfie shots to create a short video that reflects your day or story… the possibilities are endless!
"I'd love to see what others come up with - there's so many ways this can be extended," said Cheng.
"Donut selfies on trips, double donut-selfies of couples where the camera goes in one person's head and through the other. Or using it tell a story, or to show off different looks/makeup/costumes.
"If enough people do it, I'd like to compile an around-the-world selfie made by people from all different cultures and countries," she said.
For donut selfie inspirations, you can check out Cheng's donut selfie website
