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'Untrained Eyes' explores how computers perceive you
If you search for "man" on Google, most of the image results you'll get are of white males looking confidently at the camera. "Woman," meanwhile, brings up pictures of women that appear to have been taken from a male gaze -- and yes, you guessed it, they're also predominately white. That lack of inclusion in machine learning is what "Untrained Eyes," an interactive art installation, aims to shed light on. The project, created by conceptual artist Glenn Kaino and actor/activist Jesse Williams, comes in the form of a sculpture that uses five mirrors and a Kinect to get its point across. Stand in front of it, wave and, within seconds, you'll be presented with an image that will "match" your appearance.
Facebook Messenger will now send your photos in 4K
Facebook Messenger has recently gotten some pretty nifty additions, like the ability to share Apple Music and Spotify tunes, send cash to friends and new video chat filters. Now the company is improving another visual feature: photos. Now you can send and receive photos via the messaging service at 4K resolution at the same speed as your regular photos, according to Facebook.
Instagram now supports three right-to-left languages
You can post and comment in more than 24 different languages via Instagram already, but they've all been left-to-right languages like English. Instagram just announced that it has added Arabic, Hebrew and Farsi languages -- all of which read right to left. The three languages will be available on the Android version of Instagram first.
AI-powered app finds and locks away your racy photos
Hiding racy photos on your phone can be a tedious, manual affair. Depending on the app, you need to first select all the pics you want to move, move them and then delete them from your original cameral roll. That's not to mention making sure they didn't go to any automatic cloud backup locations like iCloud or Google Photos. A new app, Nude, aims to make the process a lot easier by scanning your photos for nudes, putting them in a private vault, deleting them from your camera roll and then erasing them from iCloud. All of this analysis is done on your iPhone, too, so no sensitive information hits the cloud.
Shutterstock's composition photo search is powered by AI
Fresh off its AI-powered tool for countering watermark removal from photos, Shutterstock is using machine learning for something else. In this case, it's launching a composition-aware search tool.
Google Photos eases video sharing on slow connections
With Google pre-loading Google Photos on a range ofAndroid devices, it's no wonder the app has racked up 500 million users. The search giant is already capitalizing on its success using AI-assisted tools that pester you to share more visuals. Now, it's hellbent on eradicating any mobile signal barriers that could hinder your sharing pleasure. The app's latest update builds on a feature unveiled earlier this year. Back in March, Photos began backing up images in a lower resolution when it detected weak connectivity, later giving the pics a high-res bump via Wi-Fi. That way you could upload and share lightweight preview pics on the go, without worrying about a signal dropout ruining your progress. Video fans will be happy to hear that same functionality is now available for recorded clips.
Kodak’s app and chatbot will scour your photos for forgotten gems
If you're like me, you have thousands of photos on your phone, most of which you will have long forgotten. And let's be honest, you probably don't scroll through all of them often, if at all. I certainly don't. Well, Kodak Moments -- the photo-printing division of Kodak Alaris -- has updated its app and introduced a new Facebook chatbot, both of which will pore over your photos on Facebook or those stored in your phone's camera roll and pick out images that qualify as a "Kodak Moment."
Behold the cameras destroyed by the solar eclipse
The eclipse came and went amidst a media hullabaloo. Much of the coverage focussed on where and how you could watch the event. And, almost every report carried a word of warning: Protect your eyes. Trump didn't listen, but most others did. Photography enthusiasts were also probably aware of the fact that the eclipse can also put cameras at risk. After all, the last thing you want is to damage your expensive piece of kit. Well, as it turns out, some people weren't in the know. As leading camera rental company Lensrentals points out, a bunch of its pricey snappers were damaged by the event. And, it's got pictures to prove it. Another word of warning: Look away now if you don't like seeing broken camera equipment.
Reply to Instagram messages with pictures and video
Instagram users have a new means of expressing themselves via direct messages as of Thursday. They can now reply to shared Direct posts with images and video of their own.
Instagram tidies up comment sections with threaded responses
Instagram doesn't care if you see all your friends' posts in chronological order. But it does want you interacting with the month-old photos its algorithm picks to appear above and below more recent posts. The latest example is a change to how commenting on posts works. Instead of responses all getting grouped together, replying to a comment will automatically create a thread. Handy! It's a minor tweak, sure, but one that somehow wasn't present until now. Maybe an opt-in button for the algorithm-driven timeline will be next. Wait, why are you laughing?
VSCO adds video editing tools to its subscription service on iOS
Popular iOS photo editing app, VSCO, keeps adding new tools for photographers looking to tweak their still images. The company has included RAW support, simplified capture features, a Collections system to track other people's photos that you like and even GIF support. It even launched a subscription service, VSCO X, that gives members exclusive access to high-end filters and presets. The company has now taken yet another step forward, with video editing tools for VSCO X members, available now. Currently out on iOS, Android members will get the same tools "soon."
Microsoft is getting its own AI-powered photo search
Microsoft's upcoming Photos app is getting AI image search so that it can spot and classify objects, much like Google Photos and Apple Photos can. Spotted by Windows Central, the latest Insider Preview version of the app now has a search bar that you can use to enter terms like "flower," "wine bottle," and "bar." It will then use a cloud-based image recognition algorithm to pick and sort out those items in your photo collection, much as the rival apps do.
The Cash Money app creates cover art for your rap debut
Music fans of a certain generation will remember Cash Money Records' charmingly kitschy album art. Twenty years later the record label is capitalizing on nostalgia with the Cash Money 20th Anniversary app. If you've ever wanted to put your face on a Hot Boy$ album, this app will help you live out that fantasy. There are 20 stickers to dress your photo with, and even a Birdman and Lil Wayne tattoo pack to complete the look. As Billboard writes the first sticker pack is free, but everything else will run you $0.99 each.
Google Photos' AI-powered sharing is now available
Google is making good on its promise of AI-assisted photo sharing. A Google Photos upgrade arriving this week uses machine learning to suggest pictures based on both your own sharing habits, the people in the photos, and whether or not they're part of a "meaningful moment," such as a party or a wedding. You might not have to remember to share photos of your best friend when you get home from a big weekend shindig. You can customize who receives the photos, of course, and fellow Google Photos users can get reminders to add their photos to the relevant album.
Instagram tests sharing posts with only your closest friends
Instagram's algorithmic timeline is an abject failure if you actually want to see all of your friends' posts. As a way of seemingly admitting that, the photo-and-video-minded social network is testing a new feature called "favorites," according to The Verge. The idea is pretty simple: you make a list of the people you want to see your post as soon as possible, and then send it to them privately, either as a Story or the timeline. It sounds a lot like sending photos to your friends on Snapchat versus pushing them to that service's Story. Hrm. Posts that go out to your friends list will appear in their timelines and will have a green check mark in them.
Microsoft Pix Camera imitates Prisma with its AI-powered filters
Microsoft Pix Camera uses artificial intelligence to make your pictures of people better. It uses algorithms behind the scenes to analyze the 10 frames it snaps for every picture you take, looking for sharpness, exposure and even facial expressions to make sure you get the very best shot. It even takes good data from the pictures it doesn't use to enhance the photos it chooses. The app, launched last summer and just updated, now offers new filters that can help you make your photos look like real works of art.
How Apple reinvigorated its AI aspirations in under a year
At its WWDC 2017 keynote on Monday, Apple showed off the fruits of its AI research labors. We saw a Siri assistant that's smart enough to interpret your intentions, an updated Metal 2 graphics suite designed for machine learning and a Photos app that can do everything its Google rival does without an internet connection. Being at the front of the AI pack is a new position for Apple to find itself in. Despite setting off the AI arms race when it introduced Siri in 2010, Apple has long lagged behind its competitors in this field. It's amazing what a year of intense R&D can do.
WhatsApp adds photo filters and albums to make chats more visual
Just a few months after WhatsApp added Snapchat-style image updates and Siri-integration, the Facebook-owned messaging app is evolving again on iOS. With a new update, available now, WhatsApp gets even more visual, adding filters, albums and reply shortcuts to make it easier to communicate with your buddies.
iOS 11's Photos app uses AI to make your shots better
Apple's iOS 11 promises to be a big upgrade for shutterbugs. It's improving both the Camera and Photos apps to take some of the headaches out of snapshots and photos. For instance, the Photos app's Memories section can make use of machine learning to automatically reorient images when you change your phone's orientation -- it knows what to focus on. Live Photos also make use of this AI-like technology for effects. And Live Photos should be decidedly lively with new visual tricks, including a long exposure blur effect, the ability to pick a key photo, video looping and a Boomerang-style "bounce" effect.
Google Photos archiving rolls out with AI-powered suggestions
The new Archive feature recently spotted in Google Photos is now rolling out to all users, but it has an extra trick. While the Archive button lets you push more mundane photos (scans of receipts, screenshots of a random tweet, or maybe particularly personal photograph) out of the main Photos display without deleting it, there's also a new suggestion in the Assistant tab that will use its machine learning skills to find likely candidates for you. Of course, you can manually archive photos any time you like (they'll still show up in search or inside albums), but if you already have a significant Photos catalog this should make things easier. Whether you're using Android, iOS or the website, the new option should be there.
