Relonch AI simulates Hollywood-class lighting on smartphones

Relonch Alfred App for iOS Turns Smartphone Cameras into Professional Imaging Tools by adding Cinematic drama to Daily Pictures and Videos

LOS ANGELES, May 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Relonch, a cinema technology company and developer of AI-based technology for digital imaging, announced today the launch of Relonch Alfred, a demo-stage app for iOS that leverages the capabilities of the Relonch AI which imitates professional lighting equipment. During the prior year and a half , the company’s technology was available exclusively through Relonch 291 cameras and to a select group of Bay Area users who tested the Relonch camera-as-a-service.

A first look at Relonch’s technology in action is now available through the demo iOS application Relonch Alfred that intelligently illuminates photos and videos taken in harsh lighting. Later this year the same technology will allow users to manage lighting during shooting (view link to view how this works in the beta version). Relonch Alfred shows users the capabilities of the Relonch AI through an on-screen ‘dimmer’ they use to change the intensity of artificial light that doesn’t exist in the real world, but is used to light up the scene. Relonch AI builds an exposure adjustment map and a color adjustment map to light up all the necessary areas of an image, and the results are so impressive that the white balance is fixed, so that even skin tones look natural.

Relonch AI is intended to “democratize” cinematic light that adds drama to users’ daily photo and video stories. Relonch’s developers understand the atmosphere of an image fully depends on the light, and therefore built a technology that allows users to achieve cinema-looking results previously possible only with a professional lighting crew working on the scene.

Sergey Korzhenevich, CEO, Relonch

“After successful tests of Relonch AI with our Relonch 291 Cameras during 2016-2018, we’re bringing our AI to hundreds of millions of creative and talented smartphone users worldwide,” said Sergey Korzhenevich, co-founder and CEO of Relonch. “The key part of our technology is the intelligence of our AI that adds drama into each story, filling it with an atmosphere the user originally intended, while keeping the image natural looking. Imagine a professional photo or video crew where the gaffer holds up light sources to remove shadows and harshness — our technology does all of that behind the scenes. Smartphone users with Alfred can turn taking photos or videos taken in harsh lighting conditions into cinema-looking memories with just one tap of a button. Light transforms an ordinary meeting of friends into a TV show or a Halloween party into the atmosphere of a horror movie. Relonch adds drama to personal stories.”

Today the depth data of smartphones’ front and rear cameras open opportunities to light up image in incredible new ways. The combination of Relonch AI with the AR capabilities of smartphones makes for 3D lighting schemes. A virtual light could create various cinematic genres, in order to create the story’s atmosphere. For example, to add a dramatic mood AI is imitating a “sidelight” parallel to a person in a frame without a fill light, or if the user wants to create a “horror movie” atmosphere AI is imitating a “low key” lighting that is predominantly dark and filled with more shadows.

Relonch performs all of these actions dynamically, constantly adjusting via AI to create well-lit cinema-looking imaging content that occurs right at the moment of looking through the viewfinder.  The only decision that users will require to take is to select the lighting genre and remain focused on the frame. The “mood” of the shot will then be built through the AI as if constructed by a Hollywood lighting crew.

The Relonch AI began after Photokina 2014 where Relonch unveiled a first prototype of the Relonch 291 Camera. The AI was adjusted and refined over several years by a team of professional photo editors using specially made content that was manually created in different lighting conditions and a variety of settings. (Please view this link to view how Relonch AI was born). Relonch AI named ‘Alfred’ honoring Alfred Stieglitz, a man who revolutionized photography one hundred years ago who claimed photographs have a ‘human taste’ and further established photography’s place as an artistic medium.

Watch a video via the link to see for yourself how your iPhone can shoot better than the iPhone.

About Relonch:

Relonch is a cinema technology development company that is transforming how light is managed within digital imaging. The company previously launched a camera-as-a-service with the Relonch 291 camera powered by Relonch AI. In 2018 the company expanded the technology’s capabilities to smartphones. Visit www.relonch.com for more information about the groundbreaking Relonch AI.