Unlike other apps, this one doesn’t enhance the image with beauty filters, rather the app’s algorithm directs the user to position the camera in a way that will produce the best shot — the app directs your photography in a way. The work was presented by the researchers at the 2017 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems in Edinburgh, Scotland. “Selfies have increasingly become a normal way for people to express themselves and their experiences, only, not all selfies are created equal. Unlike other apps that enhance a photo after you take it, this system gives direction, meaning the user is actually learning why their photo will be better,” said Dan Vogel, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. To develop the app, hundreds of portraits of random average looking people were used to helping create an algorithm which keeps in mind lighting direction, face position, face size and more while a selfie is being clicked to suggest the optimum positioning of the camera. They took hundreds of ‘virtual selfies’ by writing code to control a virtual smartphone camera and computer-generated lighting. “This is just the beginning of what is possible. We can expand the variables to include variables aspects such as hairstyle, types of smile or even the outfit you wear. When it comes to teaching people to take better selfies, the sky’s the limit,” Vogel added. The researchers first took virtual selfies via the software and conducted an online poll asking participants which of the virtual selfies looked best and then modelled the algorithm in a way which prefers the popular choice. (With inputs from IANS) The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
