Facebook can now convert your old 2D photos into 3D

You no longer need to take a photo in portrait mode (depth mode) to post 3D pictures on Facebook.

The social networking company last week said it will use "state-of-the-art" machine learning techniques to convert 2D photos into 3D. This technology will allow smartphone users with single rear camera to post 3D photos. Until now, the 3D photos relied on smartphones featuring dual-lens "portrait mode" capabilities available which were available on limited handsets, mostly premium ones.

Facebook's new ML-based is capable of inferring 3D structure of any image whether the photo was taken on Android or iOS. This technology is also capable of converting "decades-old" images. The company said users with an iPhone 7 or "higher, or a recent midrange or better Android device" can now use the updated 3D Photos feature on Facebook.

"In addition to refining and improving our depth estimation algorithm, we're working toward enabling high-quality depth estimation for videos taken with mobile devices. Videos pose a noteworthy challenge, since each frame depth must be consistent with the next. But it is also an opportunity to improve performance, since multiple observations of the same objects can provide additional signal for highly accurate depth estimations," said Facebook in a blog post.

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"Beyond these potential new experiences, this work will help us better understand the content of 2D images more generally. Improved understanding of 3D scenes could also help robots navigate and interact with the physical world. We hope that by sharing details about our 3D Photos system, we will help the AI community make progress in these areas and create new experiences that leverage advanced 3D understanding," it added.