Researchers at Google have added three new apps to mobile photography as a part of Appsperiments. The Appsperimental approach relies on experimental technologies from Google like object recognition, person segmentation, stylization algorithms, efficient image encoding and decoding. This approach was partly inspired by yet another app Motion Still, in which Google utilized experimental stabilization and rendering technology. Let’s familiarize with these new apps viz Storyboard, Selfissimo! & Scrubbies.
Storyboard
This app can turn your video clip into a single-page comic layout. All you need to do is shoot a video and load it in the app. The app automatically chooses interesting frames from the video. These frames are then laid out into a random comic template with one of six visual styles.
You can either save the output or swipe down to create a new one. There are approximately 1.6 trillion possibilities for storyboard creation. Download the app [Android] and start creating your storyboard.
Selfissimo!
Taking selfies is a passion these days and most of the time we end up with an awkward shot. With Selfissimo app installed on your phone, you just need to ‘Strike a Pose!’ and the photo is ready. Once started, the app continuously takes black and white photos each time you change the pose until you tap to stop. For each snap, you get a compliment which urges you to give more and more poses. Once finished you can review the entire photo shoot in a contact sheet and export your favourite to the gallery. So start taking selfies with this automated selfie photographer [Android, iOS].
Scrubbies
Google brings DJ’s scrubbing right on to your phone screen but with one difference, you are scratching videos instead of vinyl records. With scrubbies, you can manipulate the speed and direction of video playback to create interesting video loops. For this, capture a video with the app, then scrub with one finger to find an interesting action or event. Now scrub with two fingers to capture the playback, once finished save or share your remix. Grab the Scrubbies [iOS] and start scrubbing like a DJ.
Motion Stills
We thought to mention about Motion Stills before wrapping things up. This app utilizes Google’s video stabilization technology to freeze the background of a video and convert it into looping gifs or videos. It also allows you to make timelapse like video/gif loops with fast-forward option. Motion Stills was initially released on iOS [App] alone but owing to the huge reception and community request it was later brought to Android [App] platform.
Conclusion
It was fun to play around with these new photography apps. Even though the apps were smooth and easier to use some went unresponsive every so often. Most smartphone owners aren’t aware of the potential of the gadget they own, especially the camera embedded in it. It seems Google is trying to simplify post-processing and inviting everyone to take a snap. Hope the write-up was useful, Peace!