Darkroom
Darkroom is a multimodal AI application that restores, enhances, and animates historical photographs using three Gemini models in a unified workflow.
Core trick
Gemini detects photo boundaries in a scan and restores each crop, then Veo animates the restored image into a short clip.
Description
Darkroom is a multimodal AI application that restores, enhances, and animates historical photographs using three Gemini models in a unified workflow. Gemini first detects photo boundaries and extracts historical metadata including era, location, clothing styles, and socioeconomic context. Gemini then restores damaged photos, removing scratches and fading while optionally colorizing black & white images with historically accurate tones. Veo 3.1 (Nano Banana Pro) generates cinematic videos that bring restored photos to life with subtle, natural motion. The app automatically fetches related Wikipedia content to provide historical context and teach users about the era, clothing, and lifestyle depicted in each photo. :)
README excerpt
# Darkroom - AI-Powered Photo Restoration A web application that uses AI to restore, enhance, and animate old physical photographs. Built with FastAPI and Gemini AI. ## Features - **AI-Powered Photo Extraction**: Automatically detects and crops physical photographs from images using Gemini Vision - **Historical Metadata Extraction**: Extracts rich metadata including estimated year, clothing styles, socioeconomic insights, and lifestyle information - **Wikipedia Integration**: Fetches historical context and related Wikipedia pages based on location and era - **Photo Restoration**: Restores damaged photos, removes scratches and fading, and optionally colorizes black & white images - **Video Generation**: Creates cinematic videos that bring restored photos to life using Veo 3.1 - **Educational Content**: Provides historical context connecting visual elements to the era ## Tech Stack - **Backend**: FastAPI, Python 3.11+ - **AI**: Google Gemini 2.0 Flash (metadata extraction), Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview (restoration), Veo 3.1 (video generation) - **Image Processing**: Pillow (PIL) - **Frontend**: Vanilla HTML/CSS/JavaScript with Tailwind CSS - **APIs**: Wikipedia REST API (free, no signup required) ## Setup ### Prerequisites - Python 3.11 or higher - A Google Gemini API key ([Get one here](https://makersuite.google.com/app/apikey)) ### Installation 1. **Clone the repository:** ```bash git clone <url> cd darkroom ``` 2. **Create a virtual environment:**