Ever since researchers and tech companies started experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI), we have seen numerous AI-based tools and models. From deciding movie release dates to generating fake faces that are identical to yours, AI is being used in almost every area of the technological sector. Now, a company that helps discover the family histories of individuals has created an AI-based tool that can animate ancient portraits of your family members by adding ultra-realistic facial movements.
The tool, dubbed Deep Nostalgia, takes a picture and applies realistic gestures and facial movements using a deep learning model. So, you can just go to their official website, upload your family picture, and see your ancestors come to life in a short 15-second video clip.
How Does it Work?
Now, getting into the technical stuff, MyHeritage’s Deep Nostalgia is essentially an AI-based tool that animates faces. The company says that it uses licensed technology from a company called D-ID, specializing in video reenactment using deep learning techniques.
So, MyHeritage integrated the technology into its Deep Nostalgia tool “to animate the faces in historical photos and create high-quality, realistic video footage”.
As a result, once you upload a portrait picture or even a group picture with multiple faces, the tool initially enhances the picture and then applies “several possible sequences of gestures” to add realistic facial movements to a still face. This is what the end result will look like:
Now, if you are wondering, the tool works on both colored and black and white pictures. So yes, you can even upload a very low-quality picture of, say, your grandmother or your great grandfather, and the tool will animate their faces just as well. And to do this, the developers programmed the tool to first enhance the uploaded picture to attain a high-res version of the image. Following the enhancement process, it applies the gestures using the deep learning model.
You can check out MyHeritage’s official blog post about Deep Nostalgia or you can go to its FAQ section to know about the nitty-gritty details about the project. You can either head to the official MyHeritage website to try out the tool or download their app from Google Play Store or iOS App Store.
On the other hand, if you want to see your great grandfather or historical figures like Albert Einstein or Shakespeare come to life in a short animated video clip, then I’d suggest you give Deep Nostalgia a try. Also, let us know about your experience down in the comments below.
