I remember the photo studios at theme parks where you could walk in and choose another era. The Old West, Victorian times, something medieval. They would dress you up in costumes, put you in front of a backdrop and take a portrait of you or your family. For one picture, you got to see yourselves living in a different time.
I loved that idea. But the choices ended where the studio's backdrops and costume racks ended. It was expensive too, and everyone you wanted in the picture had to be there at the park.
Time Machine brings that experience to a photo you already have, with limitless options and animation. Choose an era, upload your picture and let MagicLens create the portrait. If you have photos of the people you want in the portrait, you have everything you need. No park entry fees, no finding a costume that fits, and no limitations on time or space!
The fun is seeing what happens when familiar faces belong to another world. To get there, we worked on more than the costumes. These sequences show how the poses, expressions and scene direction changed the pictures we made.
From a family snapshot to a frontier portrait
Start with the original family photo on the left. In our first American Frontier take, the family moves from their front garden to a covered wagon. The clothes and setting have changed, but the smiles and arrangement still look much like the original photograph.
The final portrait gives the sitting its own direction. The family stands in a row beside the wagon, with quieter expressions and the open prairie behind them. Period clothes, a different pose and a photorealistic finish put familiar people into the world of the American Frontier.
Fun in our Recent past: The 80s Arcad
Not every trip through time needs to go back centuries. We wanted recognizable eras that feel distinct and fun, and what better place to express the eighties than an arcade? Neon machines, bright tracksuits and a family crowded around a game put you straight into the scene.
The son is at the controls in both arcade versions. What changes is the family's response. In the final image, his sister leans in with her fists raised, his parents cheer behind him, and everyone's attention goes to the game. That shared excitement is what makes this one work: a family caught in a moment, surrounded by the colour and character of the eighties.
We also thought about breakdancing. The b-boys and b-girls may yet get their turn, so keep an eye out for an update. No cardboard dance floor required.
One family photo, a whole collection of worlds
Once we had that family photo, we could take it in very different directions. The same faces appear below as medieval knights, a Roman family, medieval villagers and visitors to a future city.
Medieval Knights: armour, heraldic colours and a tournament outside the castle.
Roman Empire: robes and a courtyard give the family a different kind of portrait.
Medieval peasants: the family toils together preparing the harvest.
The choices reach from the Ice Age and ancient Rome through medieval worlds, Victorian settings and the Old West, into the twentieth century and imagined futures. You can choose a place you have always wanted to visit, an era you love, or a scene that will make the people in your photo laugh.
Start with one photo, or use photos of the people you want to bring together in the composition. They do not all need to visit the same studio or own the right clothes. And once you have a portrait you love, animation gives that scene another way to come to life.
Bring your Momentos to Life!
Your portrait can be more than a picture to keep. A short animation gives the people and their surroundings a moment of movement, making it something to play, replay and share. Here is the future-family portrait brought to life in a five-second clip.
A moment in the future
The Future: familiar faces with a very different view from the window.
The short animation of the family portrait. About five seconds.
Walking-tour prototype. About 35 seconds.
We do the research before you choose
For these portraits, we researched how each era should look: the clothing and setting, how people posed, and the style of the image itself. A frontier portrait, a Victorian sitting and an arcade snapshot each need different directions.
We also split the work into steps. First, Time Machine reads the source photo to describe who is there: how many people, their ages and hair, who wears glasses, and who is holding whom. That description goes into the portrait-making step alongside the chosen era's instructions.
The descriptions, posing directions and picture treatment are work we have already put into that choice. You do not need to write a detailed prompt explaining how to make a Victorian portrait. Our Visual Intelligence story shows more of how that photo-reading step works.
That preparation gives us room to work with different groups, too. A couple on a night out needs a different arrangement from four friends on a dusty street.
Who would you take with you?
A family portrait is only one starting point. Your tableau could be a buddies photo, a couple, or a group with its own shared joke. Choose the world that suits the people you want in it.
The best results came from giving each scene a life of its own: the family lined up beside a frontier wagon, everyone cheering at an arcade machine, a couple at home in an Old West saloon. The clothes matter, but so do the setting, expressions and little details that make you believe these people belong there.
That is the pleasure of Time Machine: a portrait that feels personal, with the fun of seeing your people somewhere completely unexpected. We put the research and scene direction into the experience, so you can choose a world you love and enjoy discovering yourselves in it. Keep the portrait, share the surprise, or bring the moment to life with animation.
Try Time Machine: choose a photo of people you love and see where it takes you. For more photo transformations to explore, take a look at the Momentos we made for Halloween.