Prisma review: Intelligent photo effects app taps into deep learning for an edgy art connection

Sometimes an app is so just right for its moment in history that it hits everyone between the eyes and lingers in the limelight. That's what is happening with Prisma (free, iTunes Store link), a free photo/art app for iPhone that touts special effects image "filters" that render the painterly styles of famous artists like Van Gogh, Picasso, Lichtenstein, Mondrian, Kandinsky, and others. The buzz around Prisma and the fascination it has generated persists because the app is super simple to use and yields an endless variety of genuinely unique results. Each style is applied differently in response to the unique patterns in the picture. Use of neural networks for art, which involves interpreting images in layers, is not brand a new concept.