The iPhone may not have the very best camera hardware available, but its legendary ease of use, combined with the ability to deliver consistently good results has made it hugely successful.
Now
Brainchild of Microsoft Research Labs, Microsoft Pix is a new photo app which uses AI techniques to boost the quality of photos with an emphasis on taking the best shots of people.
Instead of capturing still images one at a time, Pix always captures a burst of images, from which it then selects the best one. This technique is nothing new in itself, but Pix then uses Microsoft’s algorithms to harvest the best bits of the ‘discarded’ photos which are then used to improve the quality of the selected best image.
Pix also detects faces within the image frame and ensures that they are properly exposed by adjusting capture settings and post-processing parameters. The face detection also checks for open eyes and smiling mouths when making its ‘best photo’ selection.
Natural-looking colours are also of prime importance, so Pix uses what Microsoft refers to as ‘multiple technologies’ to provide accurate colour for food and foliage as well as those all-important skin tones.
Most importantly, all of these functions happen automatically. In fact, there are no photographic user settings at all. The idea is to let the user click the shutter and then let Pix do all the work. It’s certainly not the app for photographers who like to be in control of how their images look, but Pix is all about getting quick snaps with maximum quality and minimum effort.
In the example above, Pix has ensured all the faces are correctly exposed and it has tamed all of the harsh highlights, but in my opinion the brightening of the shadows in the blue ropes looks slightly artificial.
Motion detection algorithms notice when something is moving in your shot and Pix will then automatically create a short looping video, called a Live Image. It can also perform software-based image stabilisation on videos and timelapses.
Microsoft claims its Live Images are better than Apple’s Live Photos because the individual frames are pre-aligned, resulting in a moving image with no camera shake. The result resembles a hybrid still/video image, similar those made by dedicated applications such as Flixel. Furthermore, Live Images will work on iOS devices as old as the iPhone 5s.
Pix creates Live images by looking for what it determines to be ‘interesting’ motion. This works well with movement, such as branches swaying in the breeze, but sometimes the app makes some bizarre decisions about which parts of the Live image to animate: in one test, Pix’s attempts to smooth out camera shake resulted in the tiles on my kitchen floor becoming the only animated part of the image.
There are also some key omissions: there’s no flash available, for example, and the fact that you can’t make it the iPhone’s default camera ensures that it’ll never become the most convenient way to take a photo on the iPhone.
However, Pix certainly does show promise and offers a simple way to take not only good photos, but some unique ones too.
You can download a free copy of Microsoft Pix for iOS here.
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