Microsoft Research released a piece of software that I think is pretty cool called “Cliplets”. It’s hard to explain other than to refer to the BING web page as an example. It takes a still photo and makes one small part of it animated and live. For example:
You could have a STILL photo of a faucet with a stream of water coming from it…
…and have the water in the stream actually fall as if the photo were a video, while everything else in the photograph remains still.
Here’s an example of this exact animated photo:
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/cliplets/cliplets/fountain.gif
Released in June 7th of 2012, here’s a blurb from the site:
Microsoft Research Cliplets is an interactive app that gives users the power to create "Cliplets" — a type of imagery that sits between stills and video, including imagery such as video textures and "cinemagraphs". The app provides a simple, yet expressive way to mix static and dynamic elements from a video clip.
More information & the software download:
- DOWNLOAD: Cliplets v1.1.1 – 2.73MB (June 7th, 2012)
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/cliplets/
kurtsh
Kurt Shintaku's Blog 
