Canon debuts photo app for trimming photo libraries
Canon USA Inc. is offering to help consumers deal with their ever-ballooning smartphone photo libraries with a subscription-based app, Photo Culling. The iOS 14-only app will determine the users’ best photos, based on sharpness, noise, emotions and closed eyes, using Canon’s proprietary AI. The app will be available under two subscription options: $2.99 per month or $14.99 for the year, each with a three-day trial.
According to Canon, the app uses the company’s Computer Vision Artificial Intelligence Engine known as “PHIL” (abbreviated for Photography Intelligence Learning) to select photos and to select duplicate photos for deletion.
“In today’s ever-changing and overwhelming world, where thousands of photos are captured and stored in a person’s smartphone, consumers need an expert, reliable and intuitive photo tool to help them decide the best photos based on years of trusted knowledge and technology,” said Tatsuro “Tony” Kano, executive vice president and general manager of the Imaging Technologies & Communications Group of Canon U.S.A., Inc. “Canon U.S.A.’s new Photo Culling App is the answer and we are proud to see how the company’s Computer Vision technology within this app can assist consumers with finding and keeping their best photos of their fondest moments.”
The Photo Culling app features two options
- Whole Culling: Determines best photos based on sharpness, noise, emotions and closed eyes. If the score is over the threshold the user sets, the photo is considered to be the best. The remaining images would be suggested for deletion.
- Similar Culling: Determines the best photos based on score comparison among a similar group of photos. The highest-scoring photos within the group are considered the best photos. A second photo may also be selected as the second-best photo within the group. The remaining images would be suggested as deletions. The app is also able to find similar photos and group them together. For example, if a user selects 10 photos of a dog and 10 photos of a sunset, it will break the photos into two groups and find the best photo of each; one of the dog and one of the sunset.
In addition to its culling options, the Photo Culling app also features:
- Photo Counts and Storage: Shows the number of photos a user has as well as the amount of phone storage on the Home Screen
- Event Album: Categorizing and placing photos in albums on the Home Screen. These are dynamic albums based on events/date throughout the year and the app will pull events that have a large number of photos and suggest the user review these photos to delete and save space.
- Dark and Light Mode Settings Screen Option: Displays screens either as a dark or light mode option