Red-Eye Be Gone!

Here’s one you might have missed. FotoNation has announced the “world’s first” red-eye correction technology for camera phones. It’s an embedded solution that can automatically detect red-eye and correct it. The company claims a detection rate of 70-80% with a visible false positive rate of 1-2%. (Note: The photo caption to the right is my own.)

Since my camera phone doesn’t take very high-quality shots, I’m not sure this is something I’d care about. But as camera phones get better (and high-end ones certainly already have), this technology seems like a no-brainer. Back at DEMOfall last September, there were at least a couple of image-correcting companies on site. The one I remember is Photobot, which installs an application on your desktop that scans and corrects (red-eye, brightness, color) any uploaded photos. Just as folks like Thomas Hawk are getting excited about more technology for sophisticated photo-snapping, mere amateurs like myself are getting to take advantage of more automated tools that might just make our photos print-worthy.
FotoNation says its technology supports multiple image formats. And for those of you out in Las Vegas, the company will be running demos at the upcoming Photo Marketing Association Show.