At Google’s I/O keynote livestream, it was announced that the company is trying to make Pixel cameras more inclusive of darker skin colors by improving color accuracy and exposure. This relates back to an old but long-standing problem that shows that image processing is drawn to be turned for lighter skin tones and not that of darker subjects.
The tech giant is working on its computational photography algorithms to get better photos of darker skin tones. This involves altering auto white balance to minimize stray light and bring attention to natural brown tones. This will not only help take better photos of darker skin tones but also ‘curly and wavy’ hair types in selfie and portrait modes.
Sameer Samat, Vice President of Android and Google Play, has commented on making a more accurate camera.
“For people of color, photography has not always seen us as we want to be seen, even on some of our own Google products. To make smartphone photography truly for everyone, we’ve been working with a group of industry experts to build a more accurate and inclusive camera.”
We believe that these improvements will likely come to Google’s own Pixel line first, starting with the Pixel 6 series, which is slated to launch later this year. Afterward, we should expect the company to introduce the feature to previous-generation models, so let us keep our fingers crossed, and hopefully, Pixel smartphone owners will enjoy these improvements.
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