AI-Powered Vision
- The Shift: From pixel matching to cognitive vision
- Feature: Root Cause Analysis (finds the DOM node)
- Speed: Ultrafast Grid (100x faster than sequential)
- Modes: Strict vs Layout matching
Traditional automation scripts check if a button exists and is clickable. But what if the button is overlapped by an image? What if the CSS broke and the font is unreadable? Functional assertions pass, but the user experience is broken. This is where Visual AI comes in.
Beyond Pixel Comparison: Cognitive Vision
Old-school visual testing relied on pixel-by-pixel comparison, which is brittle. A 1px shift or a slight rendering difference between browsers caused a failure. Applitools uses AI to mimic the human eye and brain. It ignores minor rendering differences (anti-aliasing, minor shifts) and focuses on significant visual changes that a user would notice.
Root Cause Analysis
When a visual bug is found, Applitools doesn't just show you the difference; it shows you the Root Cause. It can pinpoint the exact DOM element and CSS rule that caused the visual regression, saving developers hours of debugging time.
Ultrafast Grid: Scale at Speed
Running visual tests on 50 combinations of browsers and viewports sequentially would take hours. The Ultrafast Grid solves this by capturing the DOM and CSS state locally and then rendering it in parallel across all configurations in the cloud. A test that takes 1 minute locally can verify 50 environments in that same minute.
Layout vs. Strict Mode
With Visual AI, we can define match levels. 'Layout' mode validates the structure of the page (alignment, relative positions) regardless of the content, which is perfect for dynamic pages like news feeds or dashboards. 'Strict' mode verifies everything, including text and graphics.
Official Resources
See how Visual AI can transform your testing strategy:
