Google has put three new experimental applications for Android and iOS dedicated to photography online, with the aim of letting many people try them and decide whether or not to add their features in its other apps. The three experiments use technologies that Google has been working on for some time, such as those to automatically recognize objects, isolate foreground subjects from the background, more accurately encode images, add effects and styles through various types of algorithms. The three new apps are called Storyboard, Scrubbies and Selfissimo! (the exclamation point is from Google, huh).
Storyboard
This app is used to transform a video into a kind of comic, with various cartoons on a single screen. The system analyzes the video, isolates the frames it deems most significant and finally adds filters and graphic effects, similar to those used by the Prisma application. The results vary a lot depending on the quality of the video and how many things happen during the shoot, the app is still fun and with a little practice you get noticeable effects. For now Storyboard is only available on Android.
Scrubbies
Creating looped videos, which then play the same short scene without showing frame “jumps” between the end and the beginning of the video, is not simple: there are several applications that allow you to do this, with more or less satisfactory results. Apple has recently added a feature for its Live Photos that allows you to create animations of this type, directly from the iPhone camera app. Google took a slightly different approach with Scrubbies: the type of loop, its duration, and any additional back and forth are decided directly by the user by sliding their fingers across the screen. After shooting a short video, you adjust playback by sliding two fingers on the smartphone's touchscreen. Scrubbies records the movements and transforms them into a video that repeats itself over and over again. The app is available for iOS.
Selfissimo!
As the name suggests, this app is for taking selfies. Through the camera, Selfissimo! understands when you pose and take a picture only at that moment, without the need to press buttons on your smartphone. The photos are taken only in black and white and presented in a preview similar to the old previews with contact prints (many small photos on a single sheet). The app's algorithms also adjust the light and depth of field, with sometimes professional and sometimes rather disappointing effects. It is available on both Android and iOS.
