MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia

What is MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia?

MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia is a feature from MyHeritage that brings still photos to life by animating the faces in them. It uses deep learning to make old family pictures move realistically — subtle nods, blinks, and gestures. The result is a short, nostalgic video that adds a new layer to exploring genealogy, making it easier to connect with ancestors in a vivid, relatable way.

Who created MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia?

Deep Nostalgia was created by MyHeritage, which licensed the photo animation technology from D-ID, a company specializing in deep video reenactment. MyHeritage integrated this technology to animate people in historical photos, producing high-quality, lifelike video clips.

The technology works using pre-made “drivers” — short video clips showing fixed movements and gestures. The system applies these drivers to a person in a photo, making them appear to move in a short video.

How to use MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia?

1. Sign in to your MyHeritage account on the website.
2. Upload the photo you want to animate, or pick one already saved on MyHeritage.
3. Click on the photo and hit the “Animate” button.
4. Deep Nostalgia processes the photo and creates a short animated video of the person in the picture.
5. Share the result with friends and family, or download it to keep.

If you have old physical photos, you can scan them with the free MyHeritage mobile app, upload them to MyHeritage, and animate them with a single tap. Note that a MyHeritage account is required to animate photos with Deep Nostalgia.