【Lily LaBeau Archives】

While some companies are Lily LaBeau Archivesfightingnefarious uses of deepfakes, others are embracing the technology for more playful reasons.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

MyHeritage, a family ancestry company that offers DNA testing much like 23andMe, has unveileda new AI-powered tool called “Deep Nostalgia.” The technology takes your old photos and animates the people in them, producing a full fledged moving picture kind of like the iPhone’s Live Photos.

To create this completely automated tool, MyHeritage partnered with a company called D-ID, which has written an algorithm that creates these animated videos out of old images. Deepfake technology has often been used to “teach” a computer to seamlessly swap the faces of two different people in a video. MyHeritage’s tool, however, uses D-ID’s deep learning technology to automatically animate old still images.

And the results are quite stunning. Here's an old photo that MyHeritage uploaded to its tool:

Credit: myheritage

And here's what Deep Nostalgia was able to create:

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Although, if it was an old photo of your deceased relative, one can also see how it can be at least a little bit weird.

There are some limitationsto the technology, though. For example, if there’s more than one person in an old photo, a user can only animate one individual. Also, the animations are limited to the head, face, and neck. So, while you might wish to see grandpa strutting around town, it’ll still be pretty cool to see him look around and crack a smirk.

To use Deep Nostalgia, all you have to do is signup at the MyHeritage site and upload your photo. The service will automatically use its already-existing AI-powered photo tools to clean up your image. Then it'll get to work bringing your old photo to life using pre-recorded movements and gestures.

The service is free, if you don’t mind a MyHeritage watermark on the bottom right-hand side of your now-moving image.

Although, free often does come with a price. DNA testing companies have been criticized over data privacy concerns before. One of the giants in the industry, 23andMe, previously signed a dealto provide access to the data it collects from the kits to a pharmaceutical company. Databases created by these ancestry companies have even been used by law enforcement to solve crimes.

If that doesn't bother you and you’d like to try MyHeritage’s Deep Nostalgia tool, you can find it here.

Related Video: This scary deepfake tool can make someone say something they never said

• Shopping
• Tech
• Social Good
• Entertainment
• Digital Culture
• Games
• Deals
• Science

• What's Thermal Throttling and How to Prevent It
• Aura uses your home's wireless signals to catch bad guys
• Samsung's quantum dots promise TVs with 'perfect color'
• These D.C. restaurants are donating inauguration weekend profits to charity
• Seven Steam games whose reviews have changed a lot
• LG's new robot helpers are cute and friendly AF
• Echo Fox signs 7 players to build largest fighting game roster in esports
• Now you can watch the NBA in VR using Google's Daydream View
• Researchers map the koala genome in the name of saving the species
• Dude's dad is obsessed with a large cube, and Twitter is loving it

• Adventures at the Ninety
• 'Fall of the House of Usher' cast: Where you've seen them in Mike Flanagan shows
• Watching Women Shop in Paris
• Ryan Gosling's Ken in 'Barbie' floods the internet with thirsty memes
• Google Pixel 8 reviews are in — 3 things critics hate about the Android device
• Alert: Mr. Darcy’s Dripping Wet Shirt Is Coming to the USA
• The UK has started testing a 4
• Nicholson Baker on the Joys of Pockets
• Listen to James Baldwin Read from “Another Country”
• “The Unnecessary,” A Poem by Karen Murai (1990)

• Best Amazon deal: Get a $5 Amazon credit when you spend $30 on home essentials
• Tesla falls short on promised car deliveries for the year
• Here's the first Periscope live 360 video taken underwater
• Here's the first Periscope live 360 video taken underwater
• Best portable power station deal: Save 44% on the Jackery Explorer 100 v2
• In news no one understands, Netflix just rolled out a feature like it's 1998
• Honorary 6th grader Bernie Sanders put a Trump tweet on a giant poster and brought it to Senate
• Panasonic's GF9 is the perfect mirrorless camera for selfie lovers
• Stablecoin bill advances in U.S. Senate as Trump critics call to end his crypto dealings
• Aura uses your home's wireless signals to catch bad guys

• NYT Connections hints and answers for May 18: Tips to solve 'Connections' #707.
• Digital media is brutal, and Medium's Ev Williams just showed why
• Wendy's Twitter account still has (fresh, never frozen) beef with the world
• The Warriors are officially moving to San Francisco. Hopefully it doesn't ruin everything.
• U.N. confirms the ocean is screwed
• The Warriors are officially moving to San Francisco. Hopefully it doesn't ruin everything.
• Andrew Garfield lives his best life, got high at Disneyland for his birthday
• Wendy's Twitter account still has (fresh, never frozen) beef with the world
• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: $40 off at Amazon
• How to set a New Year's reading resolution that you'll accomplish