Hamish Watson McLaren

Google has coined a new phrase with their new trio of photo apps. The series is called appsperiments, and is intended for dubbed photography. Some of these apps can be found either in Google Play or the App Store. This is how Google has decided to test some of their experimental features so they can see the response of the users. The announcement was explained by Google on the Google Research blog.

The Development of Googles Photo Apps

The three apps were created using several of the technologies Google currently has under development. According to Google, the focus of the apps is on technology for efficient image decoding and encoding, stylization algorithms, person segmentation and object recognition. Google is calling the three new apps Storyboard, Scrubbies, and Selfissimo!.

Storyboard

The first Google app is called Storyboard, and it takes the videos the user has stored on their devices and turns them into single-page comic layouts. Once AI had launched, the popularity of turning photographs into art inspired images dramatically increased. There is an app called Prisma, powered by artificial intelligence, and created for this reason. The focus of the company that designed Prisma has changed to b2b. Despite this, the app is still holding a ranking in the App Store’s Photo & Video category in the top 150. Since the original release, the interest in creative photography has begun to decrease. It is possible creative photography will increase in popularity again once people realize they can turn it into videos.

The Features of Storyboard

Storyboard is a more modern version of the original apps created for the effects of art inspired photos. One of the biggest difference is instead of turning the photograph into comic style art, the app selects a frame. The frame is automatically selected using a video, and they are laid out in six different types of visual styles. At this time, Storyboard can only be used with Android phones.

Selfissimo!

The second app is called Selfissimo!, and as implied by the name, it was created for selfies. In the case of Selfissimo!, the app is fully automated to enable the photographer to snap a black and white image every time the person strikes a new pose. A new photograph is automatically taken every time the individual stops moving. The idea is the individual ends up with a contact sheet of photographs. This is very similar to what is achieved with a real photoshoot. Although the app sounds like it may become popular, many people are going to want to see the photos in full color. Google has created this app for both Android and iOS.

Scrubbies

The web development used for Scrubbies was designed especially for video. This app enables the user to change the direction and speed of the video playback. This gives the person the ability to create a looping video. This is different than most of the looping apps including Boomerang on Instagram. With Scrubbies, its all hands-on for the user. The person gets to remix the video by actually swiping it. According to Googles description, the process resembles the scratching done by a D.J. Only one finger is needed to play the video, and then save and share playback feature is captured with two fingers. Scrubbies can only be used by iOS.

Googles Experimental Photography Apps

Many people are not aware Google has launched apps for experimental photography in the past. Motion Stills was developed by the researchers at Google to take some of the shakiness out of iOS’s Live Videos. They then developed a variation of the same app so Android users could experience recording new shareable clips. Once the initial testing had been completed, Google baked in the same technology for Live Photo editing. This was placed directly on Google Photos main app.

With the new technology available through AI, it is possible if Googles latest app experiments are successful they will appear in Google Photos. There has been a lot of hinting by Google that these three apps are only the beginning. Google is currently conducting a lot of testing, and these apps are expected to be just the first installment. Google has already admitted they are planning an entire series of appsperiments, and the results may be out of this world.

About The Author

David Lubbat is focusing on many of the same technologies as Google. He is also a traveling food blogger and political opinion writer living in New York City.