The best way to spot celebrities in videos

Have you ever watched a YouTube video or Netflix show, saw a famous person, and asked yourself the question, “Hey, who is that?” Perhaps it was a public figure providing insight about Black Lives Matter, or some celebrity deep in the COVID-19 quarantine chatting with fans.

The face may be familiar and even famous, but you can’t quite remember the person’s name. So begins a journey, as you reach for your smartphone, crack open a browser, tap into your memory, and sound out the possibilities. It can be quite tedious and frustrating when you just want to get back to watching – there is a better way.

We recognize more people than we can name. Humans are skilled at recognition, even with faces that change over time through age, hairstyle, and makeup. In fact, the average human can recognize some 5,000 faces.

Names, however, are much more challenging. We have to actively remember them, and they’re seemingly arbitrary. Look at an unknown face and it’s nearly impossible to match that face with a name.  

This is where StarSearch helps. StarSearch by Real answers the question, “Who’s that in the video?” With a simple click this free web extension instantly identifies famous people while streaming YouTube or Netflix.

Here’s how it works. First you need to be using the Chrome browser on your Mac or PC (we’ll be expanding to other browsers soon). Next, head over to the Chrome store to get the free StarSearch by Real extension. The install is free and quick. Then, navigate to YouTube or Netflix as you usually do. When playing the video, simply click on the people icon that temporarily appears in the upper-left of the video (or use Option + S on a Mac or Alt + S on a PC), and StarSearch goes to work to instantly recognize the celebrity or famous person on the screen.


You’ll see their photograph and their name, age, and other fun facts with one more click. It’s that easy. It’s the magic of applying AI to enhance any video on YouTube or Netflix. And if you click on the “Watch Now” button and you’ll be taken to the RealPlayer Discover page where you can watch more videos with that same person.

At launch, over 15,000 people were included in the StarSearch celebrity database; famous people are being added all of the time. It’s growing every day. And soon we’ll provide a way for users to submit names for up and coming celebrities that we may not yet know about.

But there’s more. The most popular trending videos on YouTube are pre-indexed by StarSearch to provide an even richer experience. Pre-indexed means that the videos have been scanned and given a list of the famous people within the video and the exact scenes where they appear so that you can instantly fast forward to see the person you’re interested in.

With popular trending videos from YouTube, StarSearch answers the question: where is that person in this video. For example, in this video of famous celebrities impersonating other famous celebrities, 27 people are identified. Click the people icon, scroll, and select a person you’re interested in. Click their image and the video timeline shows their photo at the exact scenes where they appear. Click on that photo above the timeline and you’ll immediately fast forward to the scene that features that person.

StarSearch makes it easy to identify people in the video you’re watching. We hope you enjoy this brand-new way to experience YouTube and Netflix.

We’d love to hear what you think about StarSearch: leave comments here.

Expect more from your media with StarSearch by Real!

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