— Imaging Technologies
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
INSIGHTS AND MASTERCLASSES — IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES How successful developers are embracing new mobile imaging technologies Imaging technologies How successful developers are embracing new mobile imaging technologies Imaging, and how it affects the senses 03 How mobile apps are changing people’s behavior 04 Today’s opportunities 06 How the latest advances are driving rapid change 13 What’s next for imaging? 17 CONTENTS IMAGING, AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE SENSES Mobile technology is an Instagrammers adding new filters The camera has been a constant extraordinarily potent platform to self-portraits. These are just a on mobile phones since the early that can chop, change, augment few ways that imaging technology 2000s – very few reasonably and enhance every aspect of can be used to augment our priced mobile devices do not our everyday lives. No corner of sight, and with many more in have one. It is one of the most life is immune to mobile – from development, it is important talked about features and there the simplest communications for developers to get to grips is little doubt that the camera (SMS messaging) to 24-hour with the possibilities, and the on a phone gets people excited. body function monitoring (self- opportunities they create. People love talking about monitoring) and far, far beyond. megapixels, branded lenses, HD Somewhere in the middle are the In truth, developers have not resolution, low light capabilities, ways that mobile can capture wasted any time engaging with shutter lag and the like. Keeping and amplify our senses. Our the technology so far – the variety this passion for the camera in most essential sense, sight, is and sheer number of imaging mind, this document will focus primed for augmentation with apps is impressive. A quick search on imaging, video and audio imaging technology: medical for image-related apps on app technologies and apps that professionals conducting search website XYO returned empower people to capture, surgery, security forces defusing 2,291 for Android and 1,989 for manipulate, share and engage 1 explosive devices, manufacturing iOS . About 50% were video, socially with others. plants engineering precision with 936 for Android and 1,082 components, architects printing for iOS. Though the volumes for building impressions in three Windows Phone were fewer, these dimensions, soccer officials are growing quickly in number. using goal line technology, 1. Xyo (June, 2013) 03 — Imaging technologies How mobile apps are changing people’s behavior In the last few years, imaging Percentage of smartphone owners using their has had a significant impact on phone camera to take photos or videos2 popular culture and our lives. These days, anyone can turn themselves into a photographer, exhibiting their art in New York, Tokyo and London via the world’s biggest gallery – the internet. 78% 77% 74% 75% 75% 71% We see it every day on any street 69% where tomorrow’s insta-artists 61% are using their phones to find 56% that elusive perfect image. We are experiencing a significant shift in behavior, from the occasional snapping of shots on a family holiday or at social gatherings to creating a constantly captured stream of images every day. The cultural shift is even more prominent if we add manipulating and sharing to the act of taking photos. Photo editing was once the exclusive domain of accomplished photographers, and then later, Photoshop- trained designers. But any pre-teen can now completely change their images, making everyone not just capturers of the moment, but also transformers of that moment. With the surge in creativity comes the urge to express ourselves. Where before most of us would passively consume content, we can now create and disseminate our own creations, uploading 300 million photos to Facebook, and 40 million to Instagram3, every single day. 300 MILLION PHOTOS UPLOADED TO FACEBOOK 2. Our Mobile Planet ‘General Smartphone EVERYDAY Activity’ (2012) 3. iStockphoto ‘Pocketography: The Democratization Of Photography’ (2013) Imaging technologies — 04 “In the early 2000s you would rarely see a person in the restaurant spending time looking at a phone, and now you see people get together and they spend all their time with the phone; flicking through photos, looking at their timeline on Facebook and Twitter… it has dramatically changed the way people behave socially.” Alexey Ivanov, Owner, PhotoFunia DOWNLOADS (M) The average time a user spends on photo and video CAMERA +: 1.6M apps has increased to 231 minutes per month in 2012, from 87 minutes in 20114. Downloads for photo and SNAPCHAT: 11.9M video capture and sharing apps also keep growing. These are the top free and paid photo and video apps across ADOBE PHOTOSHOP: 32M app stores as of June 20135: YOUTUBE: 415M MINUTES231 AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON VIDEO AND PHOTO APPS PER MONTH 4. Flurry ‘Mobile App Growth Led by Video Sharing: YouTube In The Crosshairs?’ (2012) 5. Based on App Annie and Xio data (June 2013) 05 — Imaging technologies Today’s opportunities Apps for consumers can be split into four groups: IMAGE CAPTURE, VIDEO CAPTURE, AUDIO CAPTURE, MANIPULATION MANIPULATION MANIPULATION AUGMENTED AND SHARING AND SHARING AND SHARING REALITY Up to now, apps primarily related to still images have experienced tremendous growth, but in the future it is expected that these will be overtaken by video and Augmented Reality apps, with audio apps maintaining a modest share. IMAGING APPS AND USAGE CURRENT NUMBERCURRENT OF VIDEO AUDIO AUGMENTED REALITY EXPECTED FUTURE GROWTH Imaging technologies — 06 Image capture, manipulation and sharing Imaging apps that offer fun and artistic effects, with varied functionality for sharing, have consistently enjoyed great popularity. There are thousands of apps, but some of the most notable, both in terms of popular appeal and in offering a unique user experience, are: HIPSTAMATIC PHOTOFUNIA BLINK FHOTOROOM PHOTOBEAMER PHOTOSYNTH CINEMAGRAM IMAGE CAPTURE, MANIPULATION AND SHARING 07 — Imaging technologies Lomogram You don’t have to be a big consumer brand to be successful. Lomogram is considered one of the best photo editing apps for Windows Phone, competing with Instagram, Hipstamatic and Pixlr-o-matic in terms of functionality if not volumes of users. But it was built and is run by just one person in his free time. “This is my hobby and I’ve got a full-time job Results with modest resources as a web developer. I looked at the market Lomogram was able to pass and saw there were not many photo apps 1 million downloads in only 219 days, and in just one for Windows Phone, so I decided to make year is nearing 2 million. one. I started from scratch and had to Though the active user base levelled off in May, overall build my own filtering libraries – that was a sessions rose, confirming the real challenge but also very satisfying.” stickiness of the app. — Pavlo Tkhir, Lomogram Active Users Sessions Sessions/Active User 7,000,000 7 6,000,000 6 5,000,000 5 4,000,000 4 3,000,000 3 2,000,000 2 1,000,000 1 0 0 Jun 12 Jul 12 Aug 12 Sep 12 Oct 12 Nov 12 Dec 12 Jan 13 Feb 13 Mar 13 Apr 12 May 13 Number of Number of sessions users / sessions per active user Imaging technologies — 08 this year allowing users to and 6. Tech Crunch ‘Twitter Releases Vine For Video capture, manipulation Android Smartphones As It Tops 13M and sharing share up to 15 second videos. Users’ (2013) Users can also manipulate their Some apps in this group are videos by using specific filters limited to video capture and before sharing them, a natural editing but others go beyond differentiator for Instagram. this to include enhancements, Popular video apps include: collaborative creation and sharing functionalities. Though VINE there are fewer apps for video than for still imaging, it is an area that has been growing steadily. The shooting and sharing of short 8MM VINTAGE CAMERA videos via mobile has become a key trend upon which major players are already starting VIDEO CAPTURE, to capitalize. Vine, the mobile VYCLONE MANIPULATION app owned by Twitter which AND SHARING allows users to share videos of up to 6 seconds is estimated to have more than 13 million EVERYDAY users6. Instagram launched video functionality in June Sezion Sezion started out as an app Fan videos and a brand pilot for the collaborative creation of Sezion recently landed its audio clips, but is fast becoming first branding pilot project, an app for collaborative video providing the technology for creation. Users can create their the fan video behind the launch own videos either by mashing of a joint Vichy and Red Cross up videos already published campaign for communicating on the web, with automatic the dangers of heat and sun synchronization of both video overexposure during the hot and audio, or they can create summer months in Spain. A videos with other users, each selection of stars dance and contributing their own portion sing in the video, while fans are of audio and video. Another encouraged to make their own option is a mix of the two – version by adding themselves. users can pick their favourite Lady Gaga video and mix themselves and their friends in. Fun and functionality “What we created is unique, combining Sezion plans on combining the best of both worlds with a videos, combining audio, the automatic freemium model. So it is free synchronization, and more. But for amateur users wanting to just play around and have fun if we are not able to give that to a making silly mash-ups, but grandfather, or to my eight-8 year by paying a bit more, serious aficionados and professionals old nephew, if they are not able to will get advanced functionality, use it, it will be rubbish for them.” like distributing and working on professional videos.