homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Portrait-to-animation AI brings to life Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, and more

This is very surreal.

Tibi Puiu
March 2, 2021 @ 4:37 pm

share Share

Marie Curie (1920). Credit: My Heritage.

Going from pictures to moving pictures was a huge leap in technology and value. We can now archive human culture in a far richer format than simple text or static photos. Now, it is even possible to fill in the blanks from the past. Using AI, researchers have transformed photos of famous people into hyper-realistic animations that shine new light upon historical figures.

Charles Darwin (1855). Credit: My Heritage.

Anyone can use the tool — fittingly named Deep Nostalgia — to animate faces in photos uploaded to the system. The new service, which was produced by genealogy site MyHeritage, uses deep learning to turn a static portrait into a short video with life-like facial expressions.

Amelia Earhart (1937). Credit: My Heritage.

Specifically, the AI uses a method known as adversarial networks (or GANs for short) in which two different AIs are pit against each other. One of the networks is responsible for producing content while the other verifies how well the content emulates references. Over billions of iterations, the AI can get very good — so good it might fool you that it is original footage.

The tool is ideal for animating old family photos and celebrity pictures. It can even work with drawings and illustrations.

In order to bring a portrait to life, the AI maps a person’s face onto footage of another. It’s essentially the same way deepfakes work to impersonate people, whether it’s Donald Trump joining Breaking Bad or Mark Zuckerberg saying things he never actually said. But since the tool doesn’t also come with fake audio, there shouldn’t be any risk of nefarious usage — yet.

https://twitter.com/pedigreetales/status/1365042664664662018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1365042664664662018%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2021%2F2%2F28%2F22306097%2Fai-brings-still-photos-life-meme-twitter-geneaology-myheritage

Some will feel enchanted by Deep Nostalgia, while others will undoubtedly be creeped out. But regardless of how the products of this AI make you feel, I think we can all agree that the technology behind them is damn impressive.

share Share

The Universe’s First “Little Red Dots” May Be a New Kind of Star With a Black Hole Inside

Mysterious red dots may be a peculiar cosmic hybrid between a star and a black hole.

Peacock Feathers Can Turn Into Biological Lasers and Scientists Are Amazed

Peacock tail feathers infused with dye emit laser light under pulsed illumination.

Helsinki went a full year without a traffic death. How did they do it?

Nordic capitals keep showing how we can eliminate traffic fatalities.

Scientists Find Hidden Clues in The Alexander Mosaic. Its 2 Million Tiny Stones Came From All Over the Ancient World

One of the most famous artworks of the ancient world reads almost like a map of the Roman Empire's power.

Ancient bling: Romans May Have Worn a 450-Million-Year-Old Sea Fossil as a Pendant

Before fossils were science, they were symbols of magic, mystery, and power.

This AI Therapy App Told a Suicidal User How to Die While Trying to Mimic Empathy

You really shouldn't use a chatbot for therapy.

This New Coating Repels Oil Like Teflon Without the Nasty PFAs

An ultra-thin coating mimics Teflon’s performance—minus most of its toxicity.

Why You Should Stop Using Scented Candles—For Good

They're seriously not good for you.

People in Thailand were chewing psychoactive nuts 4,000 years ago. It's in their teeth

The teeth Chico, they never lie.

To Fight Invasive Pythons in the Everglades Scientists Turned to Robot Rabbits

Scientists are unleashing robo-rabbits to trick and trap giant invasive snakes