Disney's Coloring Book App (Photo : Phys.org)
A new Disney Research project makes drawing more thrilling for kids and adults who lack the artistic ability of Da Vinci, Picasso, and Warhol, via a coloring book app. The real-time interactive application for Android and iOS devices converts a child's or grown-up's two-dimensional colored drawing into a three-dimensional (3D) augmented reality (AR) picture on a mobile phone or tablet computer screen.
Disney researchers created 3D models of the cartoon characters, and 2D models for the digital coloring book.
The software uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically detect which Disney character the artist is coloring. It then displays the human or animal automatically.
The new app functions by copying the pixels from the original drawing, and then adjusting the other regions in the 3D version. It does the task in real time.
Besides filling in the colors, the app also completes the back of the picture based on the hues included in the 2D model. The result is quite amazing.
Disney Research explained that one of the most challenging functions of the app was creating the illusion that the user colored the sides and back of the character. It solved the problem with a "lookout map" that matches up pixels that the user provides, with unseen missing ones, according to Wall Street OTC.
The app's developers shared that 80 percent of the technology's adult users reported that they were more connected to the cartoon character they colored. That made the drawing more fun.
Disney's app could be used in several applications. One example is interactive video games.
Neither the app nor the coloring book is available in any online or brick-and-mortar store. However, the lab's website includes more info about The Walt Disney Company's new and exciting research.
This video includes a first look at Disney's AR coloring book app:
