Adobe MAX 2026 Sneaks: 10 AI Research Projects For Video, Sound And Images
Adobe previewed 10 research projects at Adobe MAX 2026 Sneaks that could shape its future creative tools, covering video, sound, imaging and design. The session was hosted by actor Terry Crews, and for the first time, some of the projects can be tried before any product launch.
- Event: Adobe MAX 2026 Sneaks
- Host: Terry Crews
- Projects shown: 10
- Try now: Project Deep Brush and Project Hands On, in Adobe Labs Playground
Adobe MAX 2026 Sneaks: Video
- Project Scene Sweep understands characters, locations and scenes, so one edit can be carried across cuts and camera angles.
- Project Screen Test lets creators build a fictional character's look, voice and personality, then talk to it to see how it might respond in different scenes.
- Project Live Set lets creators change a subject, transform an environment or redirect the camera while a scene keeps playing.
- Project On Cue controls when an action happens in generated video, using a timing signal drawn by hand or taken from a video or a piece of music.
Sound
Project Sound Bender lets creators describe a sound, pull it out of a finished mix, and explore variations on an interactive canvas. Sounds can be shaped in real time, matched to movement in a video, or created from a description.
Images And Design
- Project Deep Brush reads an image's shape, colour and lighting, so brushstrokes follow surfaces, colours change while keeping natural shadows, and light can be painted into a scene.
- Project Sight Span turns a single image into an environment creators can step inside to find new angles.
- Project Hands On uses object segmentation and vision-language models to put controls on the canvas, so parts of a scene can be moved by hand.
- Project Rinse Repeat copies edits from one part of an image to another, recreated with native Photoshop tools so they stay editable.
- Project Link Up turns a drag into intent: drop a car into an illustrated parking space and it adapts perspective, scale and style, as editable vector art.
Adobe Labs Playground
Adobe Labs returns as a year-round destination for its research. Its new Playground offers research previews of Project Deep Brush and Project Hands On, plus Project Custom Filters, a capability Adobe is exploring for Photoshop.
The Context
Sneaks are research, not product announcements, and many past demos have taken years to reach Adobe's apps, if at all. The theme this year is control: most projects give creators a way to steer AI output by hand, timing or gesture rather than by prompt alone. That is the same pitch Adobe made at MAX with its expanded Google partnership and its AI alliance with Disney. For agencies and in-house studios, the video and sound tools point to faster versioning of campaign assets.
The full list is on Adobe's blog.
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