January 12, 2011

App Idea: Photo Defiler

The other day while using Instagram, it occurred to me: To really do proper retro photos, I need a way to obscure half the image with my dad’s finger.  In that vein, how about an app that would fill your images with cliched errors?  A few ideas:

• Head Clipper: Use face detection to identify people in an image, then partly lop off their domes.
• Shadow Caster: Hey, where’s the photographer? Ah, there’s his handy shadow!
• Back Lighter: Fill light/Shadow-Highlight is passé; we need a way to silhouette subjects into oblivion.
• Grass Expander: Auto zoom out, then use Content-Aware Fill to surround one’s subject with even more grass & extraneous details.
• Blink Synthesizer: If society has figured out how to put human eyes onto Muppets, surely we can shut the eyes of at least some people in a group photo.
• Face Blurrer: A bit o’ witness protection.
• Digital Intruder: My dad’s finger on millions of handsets around the world. You’re welcome.

Not quitting my day job,
J.