EyeQ announces AI scene detection

EyeQ Imaging Inc., the maker of Perfectly Clear automatic photo correction technology, officially announced AI Scene Detection (which the company previewed at the Pro Imaging CONNECT virtual conference) as an update to Perfectly Clear and will be making it available to customers worldwide. AI Scene Detection improves Perfectly Clear’s automatic image enhancement, which can be seen in comparison photo examples shown above. Perfectly Clear’s iAuto feature has traditionally applied an intelligent correction, but the universal AI Scene Detection now being applied has a much wider range for accuracy, the company says. AI Scene Detection is able to identify a scene or lighting condition and then apply a correction with predetermined parameters. This ensures the correction is as accurate as possible and most appropriate to the scene or lighting condition in that photo, according to company executives.

AI Scene Detection is the first of three AI-based transformational innovations to be released by EyeQ this year, according to the company. It’s currently available as a demo and pricing is available upon request.

“Our talented team of AI scientists has looked at the 100 million images we process per day to come up with innovative ways to leverage artificial intelligence to make our technology even smarter for customers. The first release this year – stay tuned for two more – is AI Scene Detection. It’s an excellent use of AI blended with our classical imaging algorithms where we train our platform to detect specific scenes and lighting and make the perfect corrections based on the scene. The result is greater image intelligence with more targeted and robust corrections – allowing for greater workflow operational efficiency and more visually pleasing images to the customer,” said Brad Malcolm, CEO and co-founder of EyeQ.

“If you have an image with a baby in it, you don’t want a harsh, vibrant correction to be made,” says Jeff Stephens, EyeQ’s CTO and co-founder. “You’ll want a softened image and that is what the AI predicts and then corrects for. The opposite is true with something like a sunset where we can push the color vibrancy and use our scene detection preset to make the photo pop. We remain totally focused on enhancing photos and applying the best corrective techniques for our customers.”

There are a dozen scenes and lighting conditions that are currently included in the AI Scene Detection platform; customers are also able to request specific scene categories to be created and customized for them. AI Scene Detection can also be licensed separately and integrated into any workflow.

Malcolm and Stephens noted a great deal of innovation, research and science went into developing the new feature from EyeQ. These efforts included testing the effectiveness and applicability with a number of major customers such as Japan’s Labo Network.

“At Labo Network, we print enough photos each year to stretch around the world 10 times,” said Shoichi Sezaki, Labo Network’s Head of Quality and Lab Systems Engineering. “We see any opportunity to print these more efficiently and with better quality output to be a win for our company. EyeQ’s updated Perfectly Clear technology keeps getting better as they enhance it and including this AI correction aspect shows their innovative mindset. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next to keep improving the photo printing process.”