Canon PowerShot Camera With Artificial Intelligence On Board Might Get Released Soon

Artificial Intelligence

It seems Canon will soon announce their first camera with some sort of artificial intelligence on board.

This camera has been presented at CP+ 2019, and named Intelligent Compact Camera. The same camera was on display at CES 2020. A video taken at The Photography Show in 2018 shows the camera.

The AI-powered Canon camera has been named PowerShot AI by the community. The specifications (might not be definitive):

  • 12mp 1/2.3″ CMOS Sensor
  • 19-57mm 35mm equivalent zoom lens (4x zoom)
  • Pans 170°
  • Tilt of 110°
  • Electronic Image Stabilization
  • Dust and Waterproofing
  • Battery life of about 2.5 hours
  • Records data to microSD
  • USB-C Port
  • Both Wifi and Bluetooth connectivity

The Canon PowerShot AI could be a kind of multipurpose camera, and it’s yet to see what the featured artificial intelligence will exactly do. Understanding voice commands is already on board.

The Canon PowerShot AI is expected to be announced soon.

Stay tuned.

Source: Canon Rumors

This Artificial Intelligence Powered Camera Describes What It Sees, With Its Own Voice (DIY project)

Artificial Intelligence

Machine learning algorithms are conquering the world. It’s not just now that they entered the photography domain.

This artificial intelligence application is a bit different from what comes in recent photo editing software. A Raspberry Pi is involved, along with a TensorFlow Lite object recognition software and Adafruit’s BrainCraft HAT machine learning system All together makes a very cool DIY project, described by Adafruit in an article.

[via DIY Photography]

Skylum Luminar 4.2 Released, Adds “AI Augmented Sky” Feature

Luminar 4

Skylum released Luminar 4.2, an update that brings he AI Augmented Sky feature.

The Skylum Luminar 4 update free and is installed from within the application. You can get Luminar 4 with a $10/€10 discount by using code WATCH at checkout (reg. $89).

The video below shows what you can do with the AI Augmented Sky feature.

Press release:

Luminar 4.2 opens up the doors to creativity with sky-based composite photography opportunities

With new AI Augmented Sky capabilities, photographers can create unique, one-of-a-kind digital art pieces.

NEW YORK, NY – March 19, 2020​ — Today, Skylum announced the latest update for its flagship product, ​Luminar​, version 4.2. This free update for all Luminar 4 users contains important enhancements across the application, plus a brand-new feature — AI Augmented Sky — to help photographers create incredible digital art.

While ​Luminar​ remains dedicated to being an award-winning photo editor, it also expands into being a creative powerhouse, allowing artists to express themselves through new, fun and unconventional ways of editing images.

The new AI Augmented Sky tool lets photographers transform their photographs to the new heights, by helping create unique digital art creations. The tool lets photographers place different objects directly on the sky, enabling creatives to make either a realistic landscape or transform it into something straight out of a fairy tale.

NEW AI Augmented Sky
In the Creative tab inside Luminar 4.2, there’s a new AI Augmented Sky tool present. Artists can choose objects from the Luminar database or use their own. Even with photos that have complex backgrounds like trees or buildings, there’s no need to involve masking or layers. Instead, the object seamlessly fits into the photograph, resulting in realistic self-expression.

AI Augmented Sky detects a photo’s sky automatically and adds the chosen element to the sky area. Thanks to content-aware technologies, foreground objects are taken into account automatically, making the object blend naturally with the sky. And if you want more control over the placement, you can easily drag the new element around the sky area.

“We’re really excited to see how photographers use the AI Augmented Sky to create digital works of art,” said ​Dima Sytnyk, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Skylum.​ “AI Augmented Sky can be used to make everything from subtle tweaks, like moving the moon in the sky, or to totally transform the world around us. The possibilities are endless!”

Transform the sky
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More AI-powered Features Coming To Skylum Luminar 4

Skylum Luminar 4

After AI Sky Replacement and AI Structure there is more artificial intelligence to be featured in the upcoming Skylum Luminar 4 (learn more): AI-powered portrait and skin enhancements.

What is Portrait Enhancer?

Portrait Enhancer is a collection of tools that help improve the photo of any person in a natural, yet pleasing way. These tools are brand new to Luminar 4 making it now possible to highlight and improve primary features of a person’s face.

What is AI Skin Enhancer?

Thanks to the AI technology, faces and skin are automatically detected throughout a photo. AI Skin Enhancer allows photographers to automatically remove various skin imperfections like acne, freckles and moles, in addition to smoothing the skin. At the same time, skin pores and other small details like hair and eyelashes are preserved.

Click on the images below for some samples, or learn more on the Skylum Luminar 4 page.

You can pre-order Skylum Luminar 4 at a special early bird price.

The actual version, Luminar 3, can be purchased with an exclusive $10 discount by using code WATCH at checkout.

More about the AI portrait and skin enhancements after the break.

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Another AI Powered Feature Is Coming To Skylum Luminar 4, AI Structure

Skylum Luminar 4

The upcoming Skylum Luminar 4 seems to become a pretty powerful photo editing software.

After unveiling a preview of the AI Sky Replacement feature, Skylum teases another Luminar 4 feature powered by artificial intelligence algorithms, AI Structure. The 1 minute video below introduces the feature.

You can pre-order Skylum Luminar 4 at a special early bird price.

The actual version, Luminar 3, can be purchased with an exclusive $10 discount by using code WATCH at checkout.

Skylum Luminar 4 AI Structure explained:

Content-aware

Boosting details with traditional Clarity and Structure tools often make parts of a photo look horrible. Luminar 4 automatically identifies objects (including people and faces, clouds, water, buildings and more) and improves them in an intelligent, content-aware way.

Human-aware

The AI Structure tool automatically detects people in a photo and doesn’t overprocess them. As a result – faces and skin look natural, while the objects around them looks deeper and richer.

No noise, no halos, no artifacts

AI Structure is excellent at improving dynamic range and adding texture and clarity. What’s even better – it doesn’t add noise, halos or other artifacts.

No manual selections needed

There’s no need to make a selection. You don’t have to use layers or masks. In traditional editors, you cou

Canon security cameras deliver real-time analysis of emotions, report

Security Cameras

Canon is investing in artificial intelligence systems. Here is another application.

Nikkei Asian Review reports:

TOKYO — A Canon unit is launching a new security camera system that performs double duty, providing surveillance while also enhancing customer service.

Canon Marketing Japan’s system analyzes facial expressions in real time — a feature envisioned as a marketing tool allowing retailers and entertainment venues to interpret customers’ reactions moment by moment.

The technology detects three emotions — joy, sadness and anger — as well as age and gender. Software analyzes footage sent to the cloud, automatically tracking and charting the level of a particular emotion as a percentage.

A theater, for instance, could monitor an audience to see when and how often they laughed. Canon MJ expects plenty of business from relatively small retailers, such as supermarkets, along with amusement parks and other clients that want detailed insight into customer satisfaction.

The technology is being launched under the company’s cloud-based image management service, VisualStage, with emotion analysis software developed by Tokyo-based security imaging company Aroba.

Read the article at Nikkei Asian Review.