Google has just released a new online manga tool called Giga Manga. It allows users to create sketches and turn them into fully colored manga art that uses AI and machine learning. Using Giga Manga is ridiculously simple and could be the next big thing, since adult coloring books is not popular anymore. You can simply sketch a few simple lines and add some color, and machine learning will fill in the rest. It is also possible to personalize their creation further.
Giga Manga is part of a new Google Initiative called Manga out of the Box. It serves to breed and cultivate aspiring manga writers and artists in North America and familiarize themselves with famous writers such as Osamu Tezuka or Fujiko F. Fujio and their achievements over the years. Google said they have collaborated with thirteen partners to produce Manga Out of The Box. Those include the Ministry of Economy and Trade and Industry, among others. The vast majority of the content has been localized for English, so it provides intrinsic value.
What I like about this new Google Experiment, is that when you are done drawing, it provide other examples of other manga artists who have done similar work. This will give users an idea of what the professionals do, in terms of coloring and shading. Right now, this is just an art tool, it would be excellent if Google can work on text, so users can create entire stories.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.