Sometimes you have to trust your gut when you launch a new app, believing that if it’s good enough people are going to find out about it. Other times, the demand is so great that you quite literally can’t ignore the clamor.

This second scenario is the one that 34-year-old artist, designer, and programmer Cyril Diagne recently found himself in. After showing off one of the coolest AR demos seen in ages on Twitter, he was inundated with requests to turn the futuristic “copy and paste” demo into a real app. Less than two weeks later, Diagne has done exactly that.

“AR Copy Paste is an application for Android and iOS that lets you capture objects and photographs and transfer them to your computer in a few seconds,” Diagne, who is currently in residence at the Google Arts & Culture Lab in Paris, told Cult of Mac. “The process uses modern developments in machine learning to automatically detect objects and people and remove the background. Thanks [to] AR, the process is extremely simple and only requires one touch.”

Copy and paste: The next generation

As I wrote when the app was just a cool demo, the app essentially allows designers to pull objects from the real world and drop them into other applications. It works by figuring out which object you want to “lift” from the real world. It then uses image recognition to separate it from its backdrop layer. You can drop the resulting image into Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, along with Figma, GIMP, Sketch, Powerpoint, and Keynote.

“This app is the result of a series of experimentations I’m doing every week to explore how machine learning can help make our interactions with the digital world more natural,” Diagne said. “I’m fascinated by the incredible machine learning models that are being open sourced on Github every week by the most talented researchers. These a true goldmine for designers who can use them to reinvent the way we interact with computers and machines.”

UPDATES: COVID-19

If you're in the house and looking for something to do, I'm all about finding hobbies that make you feel like the best version of yourself. Whether that's sewing, baking, or working out, it feels really good to be productive and get something done. A friend of mine told me about a course called The Science of Well-Being ($49), which is taught by Yale professor Laurie Santos and available on Coursera, and I decided to check it out. I'm now convinced that it should be required learning for everyone.

The class studies happiness and all the misconceptions that come with it. You'll learn that happiness doesn't just mean one thing and complete exercises to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. Using science-based evidence and practical applications, this understanding of well-being is something that everyone can benefit from. The lectures are broken up into digestible video clips, and the reading isn't long, no more than an hour or two per week. In just 10 weeks, you can learn about rewiring your brain to understand what actually makes you happy and put those principles into action. It's probably one of the most productive things I can imagine doing with my time at home.

There are two ways you can take this class. For $49, you can have full access to the course; you're graded like a Yale student, and you get a certificate of completion from the school. If you sign up for the free version, you're essentially auditing the class, so you get access to all the materials but don't get formally graded and don't get the certificate of completion. As someone who has struggled with anxiety, I can't wait to dive deeper into this course. Santos is not only brilliant, her lectures are engaging and easy to listen to. As a lifelong learner, I'm thrilled that this class exists, and I've already shared it with all my friends. Here's to making ourselves a little bit happier each day.

Image Source: Getty / Westend61