The most tantalising aspect of any annual Adobe MAX conference is arguably Sneaks, the company's showcase of experimental features that may (or may not) eventually ship. It's the ultimate in tech blue-sky thinking, and this year the buzzword was AI. But you didn't need me to tell you that.
Eleven new tools were showcased on stage this year, including an impressive Object-Aware Editing Engine, and a pretty mind-blowing video upscaling tool. Here are the 4 futuristic features that impressed us the most. (Not all of Adobe's AI announcements have been met with open arms – find out why designers are worried about the new Illustrator features.)
Project Stardust
Previewed last week, Project Stardust can identify elements of an image as though they're separate layers. Using the power of AI, users can move and resize objects without the need to manually select them – rather like Apple's recent photo cutout tool.
Project See-through
(Image credit: Adobe)
Chances are you've taken a photo of an object through glass before – and wished there was something you could do about the inevitable reflections. With Project See-through, the process of removing objects is radically simplified, resulting in a photo that looks like it was taken in the same room as the subject.
Project Primrose
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(Image credit: Adobe)
(Image credit: Adobe)
Ever wished you could change your outfit halfway through the night? Project Primrose imagines a world where you can do exactly that. Using "smart display fabric" (a little like those colour-changing cars), the project imagines a real, wearable dress that display changeable patterns. Sure, you might look like a walking Game Boy game thanks to the monochromatic, simple patterns, but it's certainly impressive.
Project Res-Up
(Image credit: Adobe)
Project Res-Up can significantly increase the resolution of old or low-quality videos or gifs, adding true-to-life details such as lighting enhancements and textures to bring low-res footage to life. Using diffusion-based upsampling technology, Project Res-up was able to increase footage of 1947 film The Red House from 480 x 360 to 1280 x 960, with seriously impressive results.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.
