March 01, 2020

Putting Robots to Work on the Past


Putting Robots to Work on the Past

In 1896, Frenchman Charles Moisson, one of the few cameramen working for Lumiere company, was in Moscow to attend the coronation of Russia's last tsar, Nicholas II. He made a widely-known short clip of bustling Tverskaya street, showing the corner of the still-standing National Hotel and passing walkers and carriages.

Now Russian techie Denis Shiryaev [about] has put Moisson's camera work through several neural networks, to enhance and colorize the original monochrome clip. Internet users have praised his work as an incredible "time machine" that gives us a glimpse of the past that looks more realistic than ever.

We asked Shiryaev about his interest in using the work of robots to produce this nostalgia-laced result. For more technical information about his work, click on the clip to read the YouTube description in Russian and English.

 

RL: In a nutshell, how does this work? Do you upload the video into a program? What else does it need to know about the video to get the colors right?

DS: I put the video through an ensemble of neural networks, each of which plays a role. One cleans the video of noise, another creates additional frames to make the video play more smoothly, a third one increases the resolution, and finally one "colors" the video. Each algorithm has been honed on its own set of data, for example, the coloring neural network knows that people's faces are usually beige, grass is green and the sky is blue, because that's how the neural network was trained. 

RL: Do you think the result would be better if the video was colored by hand?

DS: Robots and algorithms are cheaper and faster than human work. Restoration can definitely be done by people, but with each year, work by algorithms will improve. People historically lose the competition to robots, and in five years' time neural networks will not only improve data that exists in an image, but also add additional faces, objects, and anything else. In fact, restoration is basically not done purely by hand anymore, because restorers use a lot of computer programs to enhance the image.

RL: Why do you choose clips like these to work with? Are you nostalgic for the era before the internet?

DS: I like history and that the image comes alive when you put it through the different algorithms. I choose the clips based on my own taste and the advice by YouTube commentators, who suggest other ideas for restoration.

 

 

RL: Reading the comments, especially to the clip "Arrival of the Train", it seems that a lot of people are struck by the thought that "everyone in the video is now dead" even the little children. Isn't it strange that a restored video from 1896 draws this response? 

DS: Old clips that we usually see look different from videos that we're normally used to seeing on the internet. People on them are usually seen running to the sound of music or the projector noise, so the videos look "ancient" and you don't associate yourself with the people in them. When I restore the clips, people come alive and the clip stops seeming artificial. You can no longer get rid of the feeling that all of those people are real.

 

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955