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MyHeritage adds Deep Nostalgia animations for dancing, kissing and more

There are new ways to creepily bring old photos to life.

Abrar Al-Heeti Technology Reporter

Abrar Al-Heeti is a technology reporter for CNET, with an interest in phones, streaming, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. She's also worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.

Expertise Abrar has spent her career at CNET analyzing tech trends while also writing news, reviews and commentaries across mobile, streaming and online culture. Credentials

Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has three times been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.

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Abrar Al-Heeti

April 5, 2021 10:01 a.m. PT

2 min read

Feeling uncomfortable yet?

MyHeritage

MyHeritage, the genealogy company that brought us uncomfortably lifelike animated photos in February, has rolled out new animations for its Deep Nostalgia feature. Now, in addition to tapping artificial intelligence to make people in still pictures blink and look around, you can use the MyHeritage app and website to make subjects dance, nod in approval and blow a kiss.

The MyHeritage app, which is free to download on the App Store and Google Play, has dominated social media in the last several weeks. People have used the app to animate old images of their late relatives and historical figures and then share them online. Since the Deep Nostalgia feature launched five weeks ago, users have created 72 million animations, according to MyHeritage.

Now you can take the creepy factor to the next level by trying out these new features and seeing whether you're better able to stomach the blowing-a-kiss animation. Note that you'll need to subscribe to the MyHeritage Complete plan if you want to unlock these special animations. The plan costs $299 a year, and is $199 for the first year.

If you're not ready to fork over that much money, you can still use general animations without a subscription to see people in head shots look and move around. Here's how to use the MyHeritage app to animate your own photos.

First, download the free MyHeritage app from the App Store or Google Play.
Then, open the app and click on Photos at the bottom of the landing page.
Hit the plus icon at the bottom right corner. Select Add photos.
Choose the photo you want to upload. Then hit the checkmark at the top right corner. Last, hit Upload.
You'll see your image appear under the Photos tab, which shows all the pictures you've uploaded. Click on the picture you want to animate.
At the top of your screen toward the left, you'll see a little circle icon with three lines below it. Click on that, and MyHeritage will do its magic.
Done! You'll see the person in the image you uploaded move his or her head and look around. If you're a subscriber, you can then manually select one of the special animations, like blowing a kiss or dancing. Hit the Share button at the top to post the animation to social media or send to friends and family.