Apple has acquired a small company called Regaind, a move that has raised some eyebrows. The French startup is developing an AI that scores photos taken based on photography rules; composition, lighting, perspective, and other qualities. Basically, the algorithm can tell you how ‘good’ is your photo.
Having an AI analyse photos is not new – Apple already has an intelligent search algorithm in the latest iPhones that does precisely this. The algorithm is meant to help tag photos with appropriate information without user input.
Regaind’s algorithm takes this one step further. It can display aesthetic and technical values of a photo such as composition, lighting quality, and so on. Furthermore, Regaind can even find the best shot in a collection of burst-mode photos, and display it as the main shot without prompting the user.
Right now the only comment Apple gave on this acquisition to TechCrunch was:
“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
However there are still no clue of how Apple will incorporate it into its software – particularly iOS as well as macOS. One speculation is that Regaind is used in conjunction with Face ID to help with the new animated emoji rendering on the fly. Another interesting feature of Regaind is age/gender/emotion recognition in the algorithm – is Apple finally following in the footsteps of Chinese companies which has this feature included in its software, particularly selfies? Only time will tell.
(Source: TechCrunch )
