AI removes unwanted objects from photos to give a clearer view

By Chris Stokel-Walker

Yu-Lun Liu et al.

An image or video can be spoiled if there is a distracting object in the foreground, but a new artificial intelligence tool can help by digitally removing the unwanted obstruction. The AI can take out fences, raindrops and reflections in a window, and it might eventually be available on smartphones.

The idea came to Jia-Bin Huang at Virginia Tech University when he visited a zoo and was frustrated at his inability to get a good photo of the animals. He and his colleagues developed their obstruction-removal …