While some companies make nefarious use of deepfakes, others are adopting the technology for fun reasons.
MyHeritage, a family-owned company that offers DNA testing as well as 23andMe, has a new AI-based tool called “.” The technology takes your old photos and animates people in them, producing a complete moving image, like the iPhone Live Photos.
To create this fully automated tool, MyHeritage partnered with a company called D-ID, which wrote an algorithm that creates these animated videos from old images. Deepfake technology is often used to “teach” a computer to perfectly change the faces of two different people in a video. The MyHeritage tool, however, uses D-ID’s deep learning technology to automatically animate old still images.
And the results are impressive. Here is an old photo that MyHeritage uploaded to its tool:
And here’s what Deep Nostalgia was able to create:
Although, if it were an old photo of your deceased relative, you can also see how it can be at least a little strange.
However, there are some aspects related to the technology. For example, if there is more than one person in an old photo, a user can only animate one person. In addition, animations are limited to the head, face and neck. So, although you might want to see Grandpa strutting around the city, it will still be really cool to see him look around and give a sly smile.
To use Deep Nostalgia, all you have to do is register on the MyHeritage website and upload your photo. The service will automatically use your existing AI-powered photo tools to clean your image. It will then work to bring your old photo to life using pre-recorded movements and gestures.
The service is free, if you don’t mind placing a MyHeritage watermark in the lower right corner of your moving image.
Although Free often comes at a price. DNA testing companies have been criticized for data privacy issues before. One of the industry giants, 23andMe, previously provided access to the data it collects from the kits for a pharmaceutical company. Databases created by these ancestral companies were used even for the authorities.
If that doesn’t bother you and you would like to try MyHeritage’s Deep Nostalgia tool, you can find it.