Microsoft appears to be working on new AI filters for your webcam in Windows 11 to spice up your boring meetings. Newly found text strings in the latest Windows Local Experience Pack for the yet-to-be-released build 26079 indicate the potential arrival of artistic filters to make you look like a watercolor painting, an animated cartoon, or an illustrated drawing.
The new lines were spotted by @XenoPanther on X:
Potential new camera effects:
— Xeno (@XenoPanther) March 9, 2024
Video looks like a watercolor painting
Video looks like an animated cartoon
Video looks like an illustrated drawing
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Zac Bowden from Windows Central claims those "super-cool looking" filters are part of "enhanced Studio Effects" for Windows 11, which should be coming later this year in version 24H2, along with "AI File Explorer" and other AI-powered features. Microsoft seems to be also working on a dedicated taskbar button for Windows Studio Effects (its purpose is unconfirmed since it does not work yet).
Besides spotting strings related to new AI video filters, Xeno discovered other interesting bits and pieces. The Local Experience Pack for build 26079 also mentions several components with the "NXT" prefix (next?):
LXP 26071 v 26079
— Xeno (@XenoPanther) March 9, 2024
4 new files that start with NXT
NXTOOBE.exe.mui(Windows Out of Box Experience)
NXTLogin.exe.mui (Windows sign-in)
NXTShellCapabilities.dll.mui (Networking Captive Portal)
NXTLogonController.dll.mui (Windows sign-in)
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Later this month, Microsoft is holding a special digital event. The company confirmed that it would focus on three things: Surface, Copilot, and Windows. Expect to see the Surface Pro 10 with an OLED display and the Surface Laptop 6 with ARM chips, new features for Copilot, and new AI-powered experiences for Windows 11 (some of them will require newer hardware with Neural Processing Units). One of those new features could be the new AI video filters.