In an era when technology was not yet advanced, the performances of Qing Dynasty magicians were truly mesmerizing.
Today, AI (artificial intelligence) is making remarkable strides in both technology and application. In the film industry alone, AI has become an invaluable tool for image restoration. It not only saves significant time and effort but also delivers exceptional results.
AI is no longer limited to enhancing still images—it can now restore old video footage with remarkable smoothness and precision. Recently, Chinese experts used AI to restore a video nearly 120 years old, capturing the performance of a magician from the Qing Dynasty.
To bring color back to this century-old black-and-white footage, experts combined multiple AI tools and machine learning techniques. This advanced AI technology allows for simultaneous improvements in multiple aspects, including noise reduction, resolution enhancement, contrast adjustment, colorization, and frame interpolation.
The restoration process was highly time-consuming, as experts had to find and provide suitable reference images to build a dataset. This dataset allowed AI to accurately select colors and details, ensuring the final result was as authentic as possible.
In the video, a magician appears on stage as swiftly as a gust of wind, holding an umbrella and a fan. He walks across the stage a few times before magically conjuring two chairs from his umbrella.
Next, he closes the umbrella and tosses it aside. Picking up the fan from the ground, he transforms it into another umbrella.
However, the grand finale is what truly deserves to be called a masterpiece—even David Copperfield would be amazed. The magician waves his umbrella, and in an instant, two lanterns turn into a dog. He then cradles the dog and strokes it twice, and before the audience can react, the dog transforms into a woman. Incredible, isn’t it?
But that was not even the highlight! The peak of the performance was yet to come. The magician then conjured another person and, together, they placed two paper boxes on two chairs. A woman was invited to sit on the left chair, with the box positioned in front of her. As soon as the magician stepped out from the left box, the woman had mysteriously switched to the opposite chair.
To add even more suspense, they decided to strip away the paper covering both boxes. This time, the woman sat on the right chair. With just a few gestures from the magician, she gradually faded away and reappeared on the left chair—seemingly teleporting before the audience’s eyes.
For the grand finale, the magician took things to the next level. He wrapped the woman in a large cloth, and as he lifted it, something astonishing happened—she vanished, only to be replaced by a flock of chickens and a man leaping out from beneath the fabric.
It is truly remarkable that more than a century ago, when modern technology was nonexistent, Qing Dynasty magicians were able to deliver such visually stunning and mind-blowing performances.
Now, thanks to AI, we can relive these spectacular moments with restored clarity and color. Check out the restored footage below!
