Animation tool from MyHeritage at RootsTech Connect
You can always count on MyHeritage to make a BIG announcement at RootsTech. This year they did not disappoint.
On Thursday during RootsTech Connect, MyHeritage announced the release of their latest feature for historical photos, Deep Nostalgia™. Deep Nostalgia™ animates the faces in still photos and produces a realistic depiction of how a person could have moved and looked if they were captured on video.
In full honesty, this may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It can be quite startling to see a loved-one who has passed away who is moving their head and smiling again. I chose not to test it on anyone in my family tree who I personally knew or had memories of during their lifetime. I decided on a photo of my grandfather, Harold Potter Willett, who was born in 1894 in Boston, Massachusetts, and died in Swampscott, Massachusetts in 1973. Grandad died when I was 8 years old and I have very, very scant memories of him. So for me, this was actually very comforting to see his face animated.
Here is the still photo of Grandad:
And here he is animated:
I was quite intrigued and pleased with the result. For some it may seem creepy, I understand. But I was fascinated by it.
After seeing that result, I knew who I wanted to try next. I decided to upload a photo of an ancestor I have been researching for almost a decade. His name was David Edgar Chase (1853-1900). Sadly, he took his own life in May of 1900 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was the husband of my great-grand aunt, Harriett Potter (1855-1910). David’s death was scandalous newspaper fodder and his story of an entitled life and a tragic death has enthralled me.
Here is the still photo of David Edgar about four years before he took his own life:
Here is David Edgard animated:
Can I tell you how heartfelt it is to me to see this man come to life? I feel as if know this man after all the years I have spent trying to piece together his short 47 years. What would lead him to put a pistol in his mouth when his wife and daughter were eating breakfast one floor below in 1900? This animation gave me a short glimpse into how he may have moved in flesh and blood. That humanizes him to me even more than before.
According to MyHeritage’s Daniel Horowitz, “The technology for animating the faces in photos was licensed by MyHeritage from D-ID, a company that specializes in video reenactment using deep learning. Deep Nostalgia™ uses several pre-recorded driver videos, which direct the movements in the animation and consist of sequences of real human gestures. A preferred driver is automatically selected for each face based on its orientation, and then seamlessly applied to the photo. The result is a short, high-quality video animation of an individual face that can smile, blink, and move.”
Give it a try and decide for yourself if it will help you in telling the story of your family.
https://www.myheritage.com/deep-nostalgia