This Google AI could solve low-light photography problem forever
Taking photos in low light is a nightmare for even the best of photographers. Sure, some cameras can surprise you with moonlit eerie videos, but when it comes to still photos, digital noise continues to be a bane. Not anymore. Google Research's new Neural RawNeRF noise reduction AI can change the way we capture low-light images. Let's take a look at this game-changing technology.
Why does this story matter?
Smartphones are becoming more powerful with every passing month, which means their cameras are also getting better. However, none of them have been able to find a clear solution to the noise issue in poor lighting. RawNeRF could put an end to our low-light misery. The possibilities of this technology are endless. From smartphone cameras to Hollywood movies, it could make a huge difference.
RawNeRF is part of Google's open-source MultiNeRF project
RawNeRF is part of Google Research's open-source project called MultiNeRF. The tool is capable of never-seen-before de-noising power. In a video shared by YouTube user Ben Mildenhall, we can see how it can bring out the details in a photo taken in low light. The team behind the project said that it works better than any other noise reduction tool.
What are Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF)?
Neural Radiance Fields or NeRF can generate novel views of complex 3D scenes from a set of input images. It renders the final image by interpolating between the scenes. NeRF achieves high-quality view synthesis and usually works well with images with minimal variance in brightness and low noise. Standard NeRF is trained on post-processed data, unlike RawNeRF which works on raw data.
How does RawNeRF help in a low light situation?
When we take a picture in low light with our smartphone, the processed image we get usually contains fewer details than the raw photo. However, the raw image has a lot of digital noise. RawNeRF helps in this situation by combining images taken from many camera viewpoints to jointly de-noise and reconstruct the scene. The resulting photo will be flawless.
RawNeRF will let you see an image from different viewpoints
If you think that RawNeRF is just the best noise reduction tool you've ever seen, you are wrong. It does so much more. It can generate completely 3D artificial scenes that will let you move around and see the image from different viewpoints. Not only that, you'll also be able to adjust exposure, gamma, and tone mapping, and even focus with accurate bokeh effects.
