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2001: A Space Odyssey looks phenomenal filtered through a Picasso painting

2001: A Space Odyssey looks phenomenal filtered through a Picasso painting

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The proliferation of deep learning and neural networks has done wonders for the tech world, but it's also created a more enjoyable and less functional trend: filtering videos through famous paintings. Neural networks analyze the visual qualities that make up the painting, and transfer this onto the film, as easy as adjusting an image filter on Photoshop. The latest, stunning, example comes from Bhautik Joshi, who used cubist art from Pablo Picasso to turn clips from 2001: A Space Odyssey into a vivid dream.

Joshi has past form on this: he's previously run parts of Blade Runner through a deep neural network tuned to Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night, and even filtered a number of GIFs of Donald Trump using images of food. The one below was made using hot dogs:

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Fans of neural nets will recognize this type of work. Artistic transformations have been added to Disney's Alice in Wonderland, video of extreme sports, and a host of other clips. If you want to find out more about this method, I recommend this blog post from computer researcher Lars Eidnes, a developer based in Norway.