I鈥檓 feeling blue today (Image: Infltr)
FEEL limited by Instagram鈥檚 30 filters? Try 5 million. A new iOS app called Infltr taps into a smartphone鈥檚 graphics processor (GPU) to generate filters on the fly, allowing for the perfect shot in one step.
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It鈥檚 the idea of London-based software developer Philippe Levieux, who realised that he could harness a smartphone鈥檚 processing power to create live filters. He and colleagues use the GPU to change the colour of every pixel on screen in real time, as you are taking the shot, relying on techniques from game development to create Infltr鈥檚 5,120,000 filters.
Choosing one filter from 5 million with an interface like Instagram鈥檚 would be near impossible, so Levieux and colleagues Tamara Sword and Nick Pelling tried another way. Each filter is mapped to a point on the screen that allows you to swipe around to quickly choose the best one as you frame the picture, with the image changing accordingly.
This may allow 鈥渇ilter鈥� to join 鈥渇ocus鈥� and 鈥渆xposure鈥� as fundamental photography terms, but only if Infltr is easy to use. 鈥淚t is hard to predict the cultural demand for such an approach,鈥� says Dan Raviv of the camera culture unit at MIT in Boston. 鈥淏ut this app will be a success if that swipe-based user interface makes the process of choosing the filters enjoyable and not burdensome.鈥�
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪wipe for 5 million filters to spice up your selfies鈥�
