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Dona Paranayil
Saudi Gazette
Besides the obsession over Pokemon GO, people are into Prisma, a new app that was launched last month. We caught up with Alexey Moiseenkov, CEO and Co-founder of Prisma Labs inc. to discuss the second most popular app in the world. Prisma was first available on iOS devices to users in six countries and later in 40 countries. Last week, Prisma was released on Android. “Android is doing incredibly well in terms of downloads,” Moiseenkov, who is based in Moscow, told Saudi Gazette.
Prisma stands out for its unique method of combining neutral networks and artificial intelligence to transform photos into great works of art. Alexey said that unlike Instagram filters, which overlay a photo, Prisma remakes a photo from scratch. It scans each layer of an image and then recreates it into a piece of art in various styles. Currently, about 30 styles are available including styles inspired by famous artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso and Levitan. The app is a big hit in Russia and India where celebrities and others have been posting Prisma images on their Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Saudi Arabia is not an exception. “Saudis are using the app very actively,” said Alexey.
Since its launch, the app has been downloaded over 16.5 million times and 2 million a day after its debut on Google Play Store. According to App Annie, Prisma was among the top 10 on the App Store in 77 countries last Monday.
This huge success was unexpected. Not even a single penny was spent to promote the app. Alexey along with three others created the app to help people experiment with something new. He got the idea when he saw a deep learning algorithm online that could transform photos into artworks but took 10 minutes or more to process the photos. He wanted it faster on his mobile phone. So he thought, maybe he could improve it. Finally, after a few months of hard work, the four-member company had their production code ready. On the day of its launch, surprisingly, the app got Instagram flooded with nearly 30,000 Prisma photos with the hashtag Prisma.
Some disappointments were also there. Some people noticed that the app was either not downloading or took a long time to install due to heavy traffic. Some criticized the app saying that it degraded the value of original artists.
In fact, Prisma performs magic in the digital world. Instead of working with Photoshop for hours, we can get an artwork on Prisma instantly.
The app is free for download. However, Alexey stressed that if it was necessary to generate an income, they would include brand-sponsored filters rather than in-app purchases for users. Currently, Prisma has a Palmolive and Gett sponsored filter.
The company is planning to launch additional features to Prisma. Hopefully, they will add the video feature soon. Recently, Alexey had posted a sample video on his Facebook page and Instagram account. He said that he hopes to develop the video into virtual reality.
In addition, Prisma Labs inc. may relocate to San Francisco to expand Prisma to greater heights.
