computer science

Prisma (app)

Prisma (app) is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Prisma (app) rather than just read about it. In short: Prisma is a photo-editing mobile application that uses neural networks and artificial intelligence to apply artistic effects to transform images. Developed by Prisma Labs, the app was first released in 2016 for iOS and Android platforms.

Key takeaways

Prisma (app) belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Prisma (app) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Prisma (app) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Prisma is a photo-editing mobile application that uses neural networks and artificial intelligence to apply artistic effects to transform images. Developed by Prisma Labs, the app was first released in 2016 for iOS and Android platforms. Prisma became one of the most downloaded applications on the Apple App Store in multiple countries within its first few weeks. Its image-processing technology is based on neural style transfer, a machine learning technique that recreates images in the style of established artworks rather than applying simple visual filters.

History Prisma was developed by a team led by Alexey Moiseenkov (Russian: Алексей Моисеенков), alongside Oleg Poyaganov, Ilya Frolov, Andrey Usoltsev. Moiseenkov previously worked at Mail.Ru and later resigned from his job to dedicate his time to the development of the app. Moiseenkov also founded Prisma Labs, based in Sunnyvale, California. He later stated that development took approximately one and a half months and that the team did not initially do anything to promote the product. The company's first investor was Alexey Gubarev, the owner of the data centre operator XBT Holding (Servers.com), who supported the project's growth by providing server infrastructure. In autumn 2016, Gubarev founded a new company, Haxus, and in early 2017 Haxus acquired Prisma's stake from XBT Holding. The app was launched in June 2016 as a free mobile app. It became one of the most downloaded apps on the Apple App Store in Russia and neighboring countries. Within a week of its release, Prisma had been downloaded more than 7.5 million times and reached over 1 million active users by July 2016. On July 19, 2016, Prisma Labs a beta version of the app for Android, which the developers closed a few hours later after receiving feedback from users. The Android version was officially released publicly on July 24, 2016 on Google Play. In July 2016, the developer announced a video and virtual reality version of the app was under development. On 7 July 2017, Prisma launched a new app called Sticky which turns selfies into stickers for sharing to social feeds. In 2019, Mail.ru Group and Prisma Labs co-founder and former CEO Alexey Moiseenkov ceased to be shareholders in the developer of the Prisma photo-editing app. The company's largest shareholder became the investment firm Haxus, owned by Alexey Gubarev and Yuri Gurski. Haxus acquired the stakes held by Mail.ru Group and by Prisma co-founder and former CEO Alexey Moiseenkov.

Features

The algorithm that powers the app is based on the open source programming and algorithms behind DeepArt. Users can upload pictures and select a variety of filters to transform the picture with an artistic effect. At launch, the app offered twenty different filters. Additional filters are added daily. In July 2016, Moiseenkov stated that the app will offer forty filters by the end of the month. The image rendering takes place in Prisma Labs' servers and uses a neural network with artificial intelligence to add the artistic effect. The result is delivered back to the user's phone. Unlike other photo editing apps, Prisma renders the image by going through different layers and recreating the image rather than inserting a layer over the image. In August 2016, the iOS version of the app was updated to edit image offline by utilizing the phone's processor for image rendering.

Reception

Downloads One week after its debut on iOS App Store, the app was downloaded over 7.5 million times and received over 1 million active users. It also became the top listed app in Russia and its neighboring countries. In the end of July 2016, it was installed over 12.5 million devices with over 1.5 million active users worldwide. According to App Annie, it was listed in the top 10 apps on the App Store in 77 different countries.

On the first day of the Android version release, it received over 1.7 million downloads with 50 million pictures processed by the app.

Research and technology The research paper behind the Prisma App technology is called "A Neural Algorithm of Artistic Style" by Leon Gatys, Alexander Ecker and Matthias Bethge and was presented at the premier machine learning conference: Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) in 2015. The technology is an example of a Neural Style Transfer algorithm. This technology used in Prisma was developed independently and before Prisma, and both the university and the company have no affiliation with one another. The code for the previous papers is available at no charge at GitHub for research purposes.

See also DeepArt List of Prisma (app) filters

References

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Prisma (app)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Prisma (app) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Prisma (app) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Prisma (app) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Prisma (app)

In research: Prisma (app) appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Prisma (app) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Prisma (app) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2016 software, Android (operating system) software, Deep learning software applications, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Prisma (app) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Prisma (app) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Prisma (app) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Prisma (app) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Prisma (app) in simple terms?

Why does Prisma (app) matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Prisma (app)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Prisma (app).