This A.I. app converts any photo into 3D, no dual lenses required

3D photos literally pop out of any newsfeed — but sharing one requires a device with dual lenses or Dual Pixel technology. Not for much longer, however. LucidPix, teased during CES 2020, is an artificial intelligence app that takes photos that you’ve already snapped and converts them into 3D images.

LucidPix works by using contextual A.I. to identify the objects in the scene, and then generating a depth map. The app, Lucid says, was trained using hundreds of millions of photos over the past several years.

In the app, users enter the 3D conversion mode and select a photo. The deep learning program then generates a depth map, converting the 2D image into 3D. The app also includes built-in sharing options. Facebook’s 3D support allows the shared 3D photo to respond to the angle of the smartphone or, on a desktop computer, the position of the mouse. The app also includes an option to share to Snapchat, Instagram or TikTok as a video or GIF.

“The way consumers express themselves digitally and visually has evolved more and more to what we naturally see with our own eyes with depth. Thus, over the past few years, the visual medium has become more multidimensional, leading to more portrait photos, 3D content, and AR and VR being created,” Han Jin, Founder and CEO at Lucid, said.

LucidPix also includes 3D frames and stickers that move with the image.

While other apps have attempted to bring 3D photos to budget phones by prompting the user to move the phone around to capture the extra data, LucidPix works with 2D photos that already exist on the smart device — the technology doesn’t need to be applied as the photo is being taken.

While the app is now being demoed at CES, LucidPix is currently in beta with more than 250,000 beta testers. The company expects to fully launch the app in the second quarter of this year, for both iPhone and Android.

Lucid is a startup focused on A.I. vision and commonly works with camera manufacturers to create 3D imaging solutions. At last year’s CES, Lucid was part of a 3D single camera system. In 2018, Lucid announced a partnership with RED to develop an 8K 3D prosumer camera.

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