Copy and Paste the World with Augmented Reality

If you have to spend a lot of time doing repetitive tasks, at one point or another you have probably imagined how nice it would be to copy and paste real objects. Fortunately, there’s an app for that! Developer Cyril Diagne has released a modification of Photoshop that allows users to copy objects out of their surroundings using a cellphone camera and paste it straight into Photoshop. In a demo presented on Twitter, Cyril Diagne successfully copy and pasted three objects into a single Photoshop document using the program.

4/10 – Cut & paste your surroundings to Photoshop

Code: https://t.co/cVddH3u3ik

Book: @HOLOmagazine
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Technical Insights: ↓#ML #AR #AI #AIUX #Adobe #Photoshop pic.twitter.com/LkTBe0t0rF
— Cyril Diagne (@cyrildiagne) May 3, 2020

The potential of AR copy and paste is obvious. The technology could open up numerous possibilities for graphic designers and artists who want to create compelling visual work. Surprisingly, creator Cyril Diagne is not attempting to sell the code. The entire AR copy and paste program has been made openly available on Github, an open source platform where programmers can access, use, and make improvements to existing code for the benefit of others. It might be a good idea to take advantage of the free code now because it appears that for-profit companies are already closing in on the same technology. Sure enough, some of the replies to Cyril Diagne’s post are from companies showing off their own work in competition, so be sure to get the AR scanner while you can.

As exciting as the technology is, we do not want to overdo the hype. Almost every new technology is hailed as revolutionary, and in the wider scheme of things, AR copy and paste for Photoshop really is not all that exciting. Nevertheless, if AR copy and paste is ever available as an easy to use app it will certainly be fun to play with.