Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories Licenses “Seam Carving” Technology to Adobe Systems

Technology used in new Content-Aware Scaling feature of Photoshop® CS4
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. announced today that it has
entered into a license agreement with Adobe Systems, providing Adobe®
non-exclusive rights to Mitsubishi Electric’s “Seam Carving” technology used to
preserve key parts of an image as it is resized. Adobe uses the technology in a
new feature it calls “Content-Aware Scaling” available in the latest version of
Photoshop®, which began shipping in October.

The technology is an algorithm for resizing images — still or video — that
automatically recomposes an image as it is scaled, preserving the important
features of the image as it adapts to the new dimensions. The algorithm works by
finding optimal paths of pixels running top-to-bottom or left-to-right that do
not cross portions of the image that should be preserved. These paths, or
“seams,” may then be either removed or stretched depending on how the image is
resized. The technology was developed at Mitsubishi Electric Research
Laboratories under a project code-named “Seam Carving” and has patents pending.

“Ever since it was first shown at SIGGRAPH 2007, Mitsubishi Electric’s Seam
Carving technology caused quite a buzz,” commented Dr. Richard Waters, CEO of
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories. “We are pleased to be working with
Adobe, the clear leader in image editing software, and happy to see our
technology impact the millions of people that use Photoshop.”

While specific terms and conditions of the license agreement are not public,
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories is free to license Seam Carving to
other companies.

About Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories is the North American arm of the
corporate R&D organization for Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. It conducts
application-motivated basic research and advanced development in computer and
communications technology. Guided by a long-term, market-driven vision,
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories seeks to contribute to the advancement
of science and to meet human needs by creating fundamental new technology that
expands the productive use of computers. Additional information about Mitsubishi
Electric Research Laboratories is available at www.merl.com. Licensing inquiries
may be directed to licensing@merl.com.

Photoshop and Adobe are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Adam Bogue
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories
617.621.7502

Copyright Business Wire 2008