New AI ‘Deep Nostalgia’ brings old photos to life

A company called 'MyHeritage' is offering a service that animates and creates a gif of any photo

Washington: An AI-powered service called ‘Deep Nostalgia’ that animates still photos has captured the attention of Twitterati as people are attempting to create the creepiest fake video possible using old pictures.

According to The Verge, the ‘Deep Nostalgia service’, offered by online genealogy company ‘MyHeritage,’ uses AI licensed from D-ID to create the effect that a still photo is moving.

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It is like the iOS Live ‘Photos feature’, which adds a few seconds of video to help smartphone photographers find the best shot.

However, ‘Deep Nostalgia’ can take photos from any camera and bring them to ‘life.’ The program uses pre-recorded driver videos of facial movements and applies the one that works best for the still photo in question.

Its intended purpose is to allow you to upload photos of deceased loved ones and see them in ‘action.’

The Verge reported that users have to sign up for a free account on MyHeritage and then upload a photo. From there the process is automated, following which the site enhances the image before animating it and creating a gif.

The site’s FAQ says it does not provide the photos to any third parties, and on its main page a message reads “photos uploaded without completing signup are automatically deleted to protect your privacy.”

Deep Nostalgia can only handle single headshots and can only animate faces, so will not be able to reanimate mummies to make them alive on a photo. A user can upload five photos for free to the MyHeritage website for ‘Deep Nostalgia’ treatment, after that one will have to register for a paid account.

Wow! Thanks for sharing @IanMcKellen! Coming face to face with #OscarWilde with incredible animation results! https://t.co/Igx8U58t72

— MyHeritage (@MyHeritage) March 2, 2021