Turning 2D images into 3D models will always have its limits. After all, we're deforming textures and altering other aspects of the original image, but if you want to run your own experiments without installing additional software or spending hours absorbing tutorials, the 3dthis.com portal has a very interesting tool called 3D Face. Upload a photo with the face looking at the camera, adjust the automatic detection, and explore the results.
Many photos have impressive quality, but no matter how skilled the person behind the shot is, depth is one of the first things that gets lost, especially when using basic equipment like a smartphone camera. Of course, along the way we find resources, tricks, and optical illusions that seem to reproduce a certain 3D effect, and one of the most important technologies moving in that direction is virtual reality. However, there isn't much you can do with a traditional photograph... unless an advanced conversion process gets involved. In the case of Google Earth, the Mountain View giant uses thousands of images obtained with planes to develop 3D models. What can we do using a single photograph?
The 3dthis.com portal offers 3D Face, a tool for processing selfies and other images in which a person's face looks directly at the camera (3D Face delivers very strange results when the face is in profile). Once the image is loaded, 3D Face will perform a preliminary coordinate detection, which we must adjust by hand. Once we're satisfied, we activate the conversion process, and it will take us to a new section of the tool that has several auxiliary animations, such as sadness, surprise, anger, and happiness. The last step is to publish our results, but that requires creating an account on the page.
In addition to being able to share and comment on the final animation, another option of 3D Face (perhaps the most important) is converting the image into an MP4 video, which in turn enables the transition to an animated GIF. 3D Face's performance is lower compared to more elaborate programs, but the ease of use and unlimited conversions work in its favor.
