Every day, more and more inventions using artificial intelligence appear, ranging from extremely useful to completely useless. First, one great example is Microsoft’s innovation, Copilot built into Windows 11, which will rewrite how we use the operating system; But we must also not forget about the development of Adobe, because the imaging artificial intelligence called Firefly performs tasks in Photoshop in seconds that previously took hours or days.
He had never seen anything like this
Based on Firefly and other imaging algorithms, Paragraphica is a new lensless camera that uses artificial intelligence to create breathtaking images. The strange appearance of the device is inspired by star-nosed moles, who live underground and are forced to move around without light. Thanks to this, star-like “antennae” are developed on the nose of the animal, around which it can find its way in complete darkness.
According to Karman, this animal has become the perfect metaphor and inspiration for what a camera should look like, without a lens, groping in the dark and listening to its senses, in this case artificial intelligence.
according to him Paragraphica offers a completely new way of experiencing the world around us, that is not limited to visual perception.
It works like this
Although it may seem incomprehensible at first, the operation of the camera is very simple. After you hit the “exposure button,” Paragraphica begins gathering information about your location, such as your exact address, current weather—including cloud cover and temperature—the time of day, and other nearby places. Then, the machine writes a prompt, which it transmits to an image-generating AI, which creates the image based on the data, which in many cases is eerily similar to what would have been shot with a real camera. For example, the image shown below can be created thanks to the following description, which Pragraphica puts in automatically:
Evening photo of Westerstraat in Amsterdam. The weather is clear, there are no clouds in the sky, the temperature is 14 degrees Celsius. Today we celebrate King’s Day. Restaurants, bars and grocery stores nearby.
After receiving the prompt, the device creates an image that takes into account all the data, thanks to which we get not just a random image, but an image that may correspond to reality – but that’s not all. There are also three dials on the camera, which can be used to control exactly what type of photo is taken. The first dial controls the radius of the area the camera takes into account, similar to the focal length of conventional lenses; The second is the amount of noise that appears in the image; While the third is how much the artificial intelligence has to take into account the information provided, because with Paragraphica you can create images that are completely far from reality.
It is not yet known what capabilities Karmann will equip for his invention in the future, but we will almost certainly hear more about the lensless camera. AI photography for “Camera”. Click here Otherwise, you can try it yourself, but unfortunately it’s not free—Karmann charges $2, or about 700 HUF, to create 36 separate images.
(Cover photo: Bjorn Karmann / Paragraphica)
