A couple of days ago we talked about Selfie 2 Waifu, a service based on artificial intelligence that converts your portraits into anime versions. Its results range from fabulous to catastrophic, but it's all a matter of training. Now, how does it sound to do the same... but with pixel art? It's very simple: Visit the PixelMe portal and upload a photo.
Pixel art is an excellent starting point for anyone interested in dipping their toes into the waters of digital art. On one hand, we learned how those masters did it in the '80s, and on the other, we've recommended some tools very interesting. However, there's also another resource we shouldn't ignore: artificial intelligence.
Do you remember Sato? He is the same Japanese developer who presented the AI Gahaku service a month ago. On that portal, you can convert any photograph into a Renaissance portrait, and Twitter received that idea with open arms. Now, Sato is back with PixelMe, a system similar to AI Gahaku, which outputs a small pixel art portrait.
PixelMe: Your Portrait, Pixel Art Style
The system, inspired by a TensorFlow implementation of pix2pix, automatically detects and centers the face in the photograph to create the pixel art version, along with icons in 128x128, 64x64, 48x48, and 32x32 pixels. PixelMe features a pet mode, and also allows you to change the background color, or make it transparent.
Interesting how it focuses on the face, ignoring the chain.
Another particularly interesting feature of PixelMe is the ability to export the portrait to the game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I think at this point it's impossible to add anything more about that title and its absolute success, but Sato gives us the opportunity to insert our pixel art and use it as an avatar. Unfortunately, I can't confirm how well it works (I don't have a Switch, and considering its prices, I think I won't have one), but we'd love to see a comment about it.
To finish, two technical details: there's no size limit for the image to process, and the copy is deleted immediately after conversion. In other words, PixelMe guarantees our privacy, but if we use our public photos (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) it shouldn't be a problem.
Official site: Click here
