Text-to-video and image-to-video generators are becoming more advanced by the day. As users await the widespread release of OpenAI’s Sora model, there’s another competitor that just might beat the richest AI start-up to the top spot.
Pika Labs, an AI company founded by two Stanford Ph.D students, has just released its latest text-to-video and image-to-video model – Pika 1.5.
Alongside its text or image-to-video generation, the AI platform has introduced its ‘Pikaffect,’ which allows users to inflate, squish, melt, explode, crush, and cake-ify images.
This garnered a lot of attention on social media, with one X user compiling a top ten list of insane videos generated using Pika 1.5.
We picked out a few of our favorites from a compilation that AI educator Linus Ekenstam posted on X.
I also generated my own video to see what the model can actually do.
Destroy distracted boyfriends
The beloved ‘distracted boyfriend’ meme was completely crushed in this AI video. A pair of hands reach into the picture to pick out the distracted boyfriend and squish him like Play-Doh.
At first glance, the hands look pretty realistic. But what we know about image-to-video or text-to-video generators is that they don’t do hands very well.
In the video, if you look closely, you can see an extra finger on the left hand and while the hands are squishing the distracted boyfriend, they seem to just kind of mush together at the bottom.
Nonetheless, Pika 1.5 is really good at isolating the image without distorting the content in the background.
Wow, Pika 1.5 is really wild, truly on to something here.
undefined Linus Ekenstam (@LinusEkenstam) October 1, 2024
Here are 10 AI videos that really slaps
1. Jessie Ma - Meme destroyer pic.twitter.com/GWKFPF1os8
Toilets in flux
A video of a toilet hitting 1.2 million views on X is potentially unheard of. However, one user created a toilet in flux by using all the available ‘Pikaffects’ to crush, explode, and even turn the toilet into cake.
The melting toilet is something Salvador Dali would be proud of, and overall, the photorealism is there.
One of the ‘Pikaffects,’ the crushing effect, works really well. The impact of the giant industrial crusher manipulates and affects the objects in the shot, making it look extremely realistic.
Pika 1.5 is pretty wild. When I said generative AI would let us edit reality, this is not what I had in mind... lol pic.twitter.com/xeRILX1byh
undefined Bilawal Sidhu (@bilawalsidhu) October 1, 2024
Melting myths
Pika can seemingly create and destroy any image you give it. Take this one. An almost iridescent inanimate unicorn is seen melting into a pool of molten metal.
This isn’t as realistic as the others due to the way it melts, almost in sections, and falls as a slow pace. However, this example seems to showcase Pika’s ability to retain the richness and vibrancy of colors.
PIKA 1.5 is here.
undefined Tatiana Tsiguleva (@ciguleva) October 1, 2024
Pretty cool effects! pic.twitter.com/rfG9Bq5cmX
Floating Moo Deng
The recent viral sensation Moo Deng has also been manipulated by generative AI. AI educator Min Choi, who frequently showcases AI-generated videos to his nearly 150,000 followers on X, displayed Pika's capabilities.
In the video we can see the tiny Hippo puffing up and floating up into the air, leaving nothing but the background she was sitting on.
The floating feature truly isolates the image of Moo Deng and ensures that the background image left behind isn’t distorted. A win for Pika Labs, as most AI video generators might not be so slick.
Pika 1.5 is wild.
undefined Min Choi (@minchoi) October 1, 2024
Now images are coming to life in creative ways with insane motion.
10 examples:
1. Inflate the Moo Deng pic.twitter.com/hanGFvDMXz
Straight out of Sci-Fi
Henry Daubrez, an artist who promotes his pieces to his 54,000 X followers, received early access to Pika 1.5 and created some truly exceptional videos.
The images used seem to be of his own artwork, which was manipulated using ‘Pikaffects.’ These effects animate already lively images, adding an extra layer of meaning to the art.
Just take a look.
Huge thanks to @pika_labs for the early access to the new Pika 1.5 model.
undefined Henry Daubrez 🌸💀 (@henrydaubrez) October 1, 2024
Much appreciate the active support to artists using your tools. I had fun using the Pikaffects to explode, melt, inflate, and cake-ify my universe.
Now onto more testing!
🎧 ON pic.twitter.com/68q6ESij6x
Inflating myself
I decided to test out Pika 1.5 just to see what all the hype was about, and the outcome was interesting.
I decided to inflate a screenshot from one of Cybernews’ ‘Myth vs Reality’ shoots to see what Pika could come up with.
It managed to inflate and distort my entire face and body. I merged into the bean bag I was sitting on and eventually floated up and out of frame.
Like with the ‘distracted boyfriend’ meme, on first glance, you’d think that the background is perfect, just like you would imagine if the subject of an image had just floated away.
However, in the video, a plant in the background seems to be missing something.
Can you see it?
undefined Niamh Ancell (@NiamhAncel) October 4, 2024
Meet Pika
Pika Labs, founded by two Stanford students and advised by university professors from Stanford and Cornell, aims to democratize creativity and allow people to realize their creative potential without any additional hassle.
“Making videos was too damn hard. So they decided to make it easier for anyone to create a video on command,” Pika said.
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