Qualcomm New AI Feature Fixes One Big Video Call Problem

If you’re anything like me, video calls are a crucial part of modern life. I rely on them to check in with work colleagues remotely, but also to keep in touch with people in my personal life. 

However, there’s one big thing I often struggle with: lighting. Ensuring my face is well-exposed without having a distracting background often proves to be a real challenge, especially at home. 

This is a particular problem with underwhelming laptop webcams, but it also commonly affects selfie cameras on phones. So when I heard about Qualcomm’s new AI Relighting feature, I was excited. 

Available on the company’s new Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile chip, it uses artificial intelligence to add a virtual, customisable source of light, allowing you to stay perfectly exposed. 

And after trying it out at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit in Maui, it’s just as good as I’d hoped. 

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

The first thing that struck me was how realistic it looked. The subtle lighting effect it applies could easily convince the other people on the call that it came from a real source. Being able to move the virtual light source to anywhere within the frame helps a lot with this. 

There are plenty more customisation options, too. Qualcomm lets you adjust the intensity and colour temperature, plus choose from six different colours. Classic white and yellow tones are included, but you can make yourself look more red or blue if you’d like. 

It might not sound like a groundbreaking feature, but it’s an effective use of AI that would dramatically improve my video calling experience. That’s why I’m so keen to see it come to the next generation of Android phones. 

As a feature within the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, many upcoming Android flagships will have the option to add AI Relighting to their phones. It’s up to each manufacturer to decide, but I hope at least a few of them decide to adopt it. 

You may also be interested in the other Snapdragon 8 Elite features that I can’t wait to try.