Chinese smartphone brand, Honor, is usually at the helm of camera-centric smartphone innovations and delivering ultra-slim foldable phones. For its next adventure, the company is also embracing a playful side of AI that turns still images into short clips.
Leveraging the Google Cloud AI stack, the new feature will make its debut on the upcoming Honor 400 series smartphones. Set for an official launch on May 22, the Honor 400 and its Pro trim will come equipped with a massive 200-megapixel AI-enhanced camera, as well.
So, what’s all the fuss about the AI image-to-video feature? Well, imagine going to the Louvre Museum in Paris, pointing the camera at Jean Barbault’s iconic Vénitienne, and seeing the lady come to life in a short clip. That’s the core premise of Honor’s latest AI trick.
I can’t wait to dust off my sketchbook
“Transform static images – from real-life photos and AI-generated artwork to cherished old pictures – into captivating 5-second short videos and moving photos,” says the company.
It seems Honor’s AI image to video tool will work across all kinds of stills, ranging from human subjects to depictions of natural landscapes. Another cool aspect is that the AI videos retain a high degree of structural and stylistic consistency, aspects that generative AI tools often struggle with.
Of course, you don’t always have to run to a museum and find yourself a classic for AI to animate it. You can pick any picture from your phone’s gallery and turn it into a brief video. Think of transforming your macro flower shots into a beautiful video, or having a pet snap get photorealistically animated in all its chaotic glory.
An understated benefit
The overarching idea is that you don’t need to use a third-party app to get the job done. There are plenty of AI apps and web tools out there that can turn pictures into short videos, but they either offer expensive tokens or are loaded with ads and intrusive bloatware.
Plus, you never know how your personal images are being processed by the underlying AI model and how securely they are handled. Thanks to Honor’s partnership with Google, you can at least be assured of transparent policies and strong privacy measures to protect user data.
As far as the Honor 400 series phones go, the company has teased some exciting capabilities such as a long-range telephoto zoom camera, advanced thermal management hardware, and enhanced water resistance capabilities. We’ll get to know more when the phones are officially revealed later this month.