A new AI-powered service called ‘Deep Nostalgia‘ has captivated Internet users, who have rushed to try out the service. The deep learning tech brings old photos to life by animating facial features and movements and transforms the old photos into animated videos.

People have already uploaded over 26 million photos since the app’s release 11 days ago. The technology was licensed by online genealogy company MyHeritage from D-ID, a company specializing in video reenactment using deep learning.

 

 

“The draw here is that visual imagery is visceral and compelling and we respond to it,” says Hany Farid, associate dean and head of the School of Information at UC Berkeley. “We are visual beings. When you see your grandmother or Mark Twain come alive, there’s something fascinating about it.” [source]

 

 

The program works on both black and white and color photos and is capable of animating multiple faces in a single image. There are several possible sequences of gestures that can be applied to a photo, each originating from a pre-recorded driver video. The driver videos guide the movements in the animation so you can see faces smile, blink, and turn their heads.

 

 

In addition to animating their ancestors, people have experimented with historical figures, especially people that we’ve never seen video or footage of.

For those interested in some deeper analysis of the implications and reservations of this kind of technology, check out this CNN article, A new program can animate old photos. But there’s nothing human about artificial intelligence.

Below you will find some additional examples of this intriguing technology that will only continue to advance and find new applications.