Motion Algorithm Turns a Single Photo into a 56-Minute Video

Videos are made up of about 24 frames every second, but what would happens if you fed a single photo into a motion prediction algorithm, and asked it to create the next 100,000 frames de novo after that? This video is what happens.

This experiment was undertaken by a Google Engineer and artist named Damien Henry, and if we’re being honest, the word “video” might actually be a bit generous. “Acid trip” might be a better descriptor; or “what you see when your vehicle is about to reach hyperspeed.” But whatever you want to call it, the fact remains that this 56-minute long creation was made from a single photo and an algorithm.

What results is a blurry, landscape-like journey that looks a bit like what you might see if you were sitting in the passenger seat of a car driving 70 miles per hour down a rural highway… if you had really bad vision… and took your glasses off… and it was pouring outside.

It’s also an impressive display of how far AI has come in just a few years. This is what it can do with almost no information… imagine what it could do if it only needed to predict a few frames, filling in the blanks on some missing or corrupted footage? It could be a video editor’s godsend (or worst nightmare, if you’re into that kind of thing).

Don’t expect to be blown away by the quality just yet, but if you need to space out for an hour, squint your eyes, click play, and enjoy the ride.

(via Sploid)

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