At today’s Google I/O developer conference, which was virtually webcast this year owing to COVID, Google unveiled a variety of changes to its Google Photos service, which is used by over a billion people.
Among other upgrades, the firm is introducing Locked Folders, new sorts of photo “Memories” for remembering about past events, and a new tool dubbed “Cinematic Moments” that will animate a collection of static photographs.
Over 4 trillion photographs and videos are stored in Google Photos today, yet the vast majority of them are never viewed. To address this, Google has been working on AI-powered tools that would allow users to reflect on significant events in their life.
Google Photographs’ Memories feature, which was introduced in 2019, allows users to revisit photos and videos related to people, activities, and interests, as well as recent highlights from the previous week.
Google revealed the addition of a new sort of Memory, dubbed “little patterns,” during Google I/O. Little patterns looks for a group of three or more photographs with similarities, such as form or color, then highlights them as a pattern for you using machine learning.
Google will also add Best of Month Memories and Trip Highlights to your photo grid, so you’ll be able to remove or rename, as well as Memories commemorating special occasions such as birthdays or holidays.
According to Google, these occurrences will be recognized based on a number of variables. This may be done by recognizing things in the images, such as a birthday cake or a Hanukkah menorah, as well as comparing the photo’s date to recognized festivals.
The Best of Month and Trip Highlight Memories will be available on the picture grid starting today. You’ll start seeing Memories tied to the events and occasions you commemorate later this year.
Another upcoming feature is Cinematic Moments, which is similar to My Heritage’s “deep nostalgia” technology, which went viral earlier this year and allowed users to animate images of long-lost loved ones. Except in Google’s instance, it’s sewing together a sequence of photographs to create a feeling of activity and movement, rather than taking an old shot and bringing it to life.
The new Cinematic moments feature builds on Google’s Cinematic images feature, which utilizes machine learning to produce vibrant, 3D renditions of your photographs, which was unveiled in December 2020. Google Photographs will be able to produce dynamic, dynamic visuals by filling in the gaps between your shots and creating new frames using computational photography and neural networks to stitch together a succession of near-identical photos. At this moment, there is no estimated launch date for this feature.
Of course, not every memory from the past is worth reliving for a number of reasons. Although Google has provided options to conceal specific photographs and time periods from your Memories, it is continuing to introduce more restrictions and making it simpler to use its current toolset later this summer.
Users will soon be able to delete a single photo from a Memory, delete their Best of Month Memories, as well as rename and delete Memories depending on the events they commemorate.
The new Locked Folder, which is just a passcode-protected place for private photographs, is another excellent addition to Google Photos. Many users automatically sync their phone’s images to Google’s cloud, but then want to utilize the app on their phone or even their linked TV to pull up photographs to present to others. Of course, if their galleries are full of private photographs, this can be tough.
This functionality will be available first on Pixel smartphones, with users being able to save photographs and videos directly from their camera to the Locked folder. Later this year, the upgrade will be available for more Android smartphones.
