Adobe's new image rotation tool is one of the most impressive AI concepts we've seen

While Adobe's annual MAX conference gives the company a chance to unveil its latest features, it also lets the brand demonstrate some of its more weird and wonderful ideas. 'Sneaks' sees Adobe engineers take to the stage to share ideas that may or may not see the light of day, such as 2024's Project Turntable. Creative Bloq enjoyed an exclusive preview of the concept in ahead of its unveiling at MAX, and it's one of the most impressive Sneaks we've seen.

Project Turntable lets users easily rotate 2D vector art in 3D, whilst ensuring it still look like 2D art from any new angle. And even after the rotation, the vector graphics stay true to the original shape, maintaining the design’s original essence.

In the example above, a 2D vector of an illustrated warrior is rotated to face a dragon. While spinning, the vector image appears to be a 3D object, but the static image the user settles on will be completely flat. Truly impressive is how the tool uses AI to fill in the 'gaps' in the image – in another example, a 2D horse with only two visibly legs is rotated to reveal four.

The tool was created by Adobe research scientist Zhiqin Chen. Adobe's Brian Domingo told Creative Bloq that like other Adobe Innovation project, there's still no guarantee that this feature will be released commercially – but the team expects it to generate a ton of interest at Adobe Max.

From Automatic Image Distraction Removal, and a new Generative Workspace, Adobe has already announced over 100 new creator-first features this week. And with huge announcements from other brands including Tesla and Meta, this has arguably been one of the biggest weeks for AI we've seen so far.