Selfie Addict , Are You One?

Imagine if, every time you pulled out your phone to snap a selfie, the results looked like they’d been taken by a professional.

Well the researchers from MIT, Adobe and the University of Virginia are delevoping to make it a reality. An algorithm that mimics certain styles of photograph and applies the effect on the shot you've taken.

Say there’s a particular studio shot photo you like of Kareena Kapoor. Well, with this system you can replicate the look of that shot with a photo of yourself or a friend. Makeing the general “feel” of the photo in terms of lighting. The researchers call the process “style transfer”, and surprisingly it works with videos as well as stills.

Colour, exposure and contrast are all adjusted to fit the source image ,like a more intelligent version of the art filters used by Instagram or VSCO Cam. This method recognises the matched areas in your image and the source picture and adjusts accordingly. It works best with two images that are similar.

Currently the software to carry this out is not widely available, but it could be turned into a new app or incorporated into existing ones. Given Adobe’s involvement in the project, it’d seem like the likely candidate to introduce such an app. Keep your eyes open for that one, coz next time take a selfie you look like a celebrity.