At this time of year most people love to look back over not just the previous year but over many memories of family and friends. You can do this with Google Photos in Memories and now Google is updating Memories with new Cinematic photos, updated collage designs and other new features.

Google’s new Cinematic photos which is now being introduced uses machine learning to predict depths within an image and then uses this to produce a 3D representation of the scene — and that is even if the original image does not contain a single piece of depth information. The 3D representation animates a “virtual camera” for a smooth panning effect.

Google Photos will create these photos for you and surface them in your recent highlights at the top of your photo grid in Photos. It will of course require you to have updated your Google Photos app to the most recent version for it to occur. These Cinematic photos can also of course be shared with others in the usual way.

Along with Cinematic photos, Google have introduced new collage designs to give you “richer, artistically designed layouts populated and stylised using AI”. The AI helps to pick the right layout for the photos you have selected along with the font and background colours.

Google are also introducing new themes for looking back over your memories including memories of your favourite things based on the photos you upload. You can also hide specific people or time periods so that they do not show up in your Memories.

The new update is rolling out now so be sure to check out your Play Store updates and see if you have it. It’s a great time and a great year for us all to reflect on the things that have mattered to us over the years. Google Photos can help us do that.