Google Photos updates: 3D effect photos, New Memories, & Collages

Google Photos latest updates to its Memories feature, which surfaces your best photos from years past. Over the next month, Memories will be extended to include 3D Cinematic photos, updated collage designs, and new varieties of Memories, the company says.

These “new types” of Memories may combine those of the most important people in your life or your favorite things, like sunsets, activities such as biking or hiking, or whatever else appears to matter most to you, based on the photos you upload.

Google notes that you can disappear specific people or periods in the app if there are sections of your photo history you don’t need to see resurfaced in Memories. You also can toggle off the option to be notified about Memories, if this is not a feature you like.

The new types of Memories begin following a challenging year where people have been stabbed at home due to the pandemic and often have obtained diversion and entertainment in a diverse set of activities.

Instead of going to large groups, like concerts or parties, or flying to new destinations, many personalities have stayed closer to home and given their time with families.

The new Memories will support to surface some of these “favorite activities” we engaged in during a year when people may not have taken as numerous personal photos as before.

Google Photos’ new 3D Cinematic images, meanwhile, are being performed using machine learning that predicts the image’s depth to produce a 3D representation of the scene.

This will work even if the original photo didn’t combine depth information from the camera, Google notes. The feature then animates a virtual camera for a steady panning effect, the results of which are meant to make reliving your memories feel more clear.

As Google Photos designs new Cinematic Photos, you’ll be informed through a notification. The new image will seem in the recent highlights section at the top of the photo grid. You can then share that photo with friends or family, or post it as a video.

You may have already found the new collage designs, which started to roll out to some Google Photos users earlier in December.

The collages give you to create almost scrapbook-like designs with your photos: but instead of using paper and decorations, Google Photos will design the layouts using AI.

This combines picking the background to meet the selection of photos, finding related colors, and then using those to accent the font and the background of the college, the company says.

All features will stop rolling out over the next month, Google notes. You’ll require an updated version of the Google Photos app to see the improvements.