The University of Washington has personalized an image search engine known as Dreambit, which has made it easier for you to picture yourself with a totally different look or imagining yourself in a distinct culture or time period.

Dreambit, created by Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman, UW assistant professor of computer science and engineering, allows users to try on a different look in the absence of any kind of physical leap.

A report in UW Today suggested that users can upload a picture, mention a search term like ‘dark hair’ or ‘1970s’ and the algorithms of the software mine the internet for pictures in that category allowing the face of the person to be seamlessly mapped to deliver the results.

Many times, pictures of missing children or fled convicts are changed to demonstrate a change in appearance with age or disguise. Dreambit also draws on past research carried out at the UW and anywhere where similar techniques are used.

In the past, Kemelmacher-Shlizerman and her team created automated age progression software that focused just on the face of a person. Dreambit puts in different hairstyle options and other background elements.

The entire process is slightly beyond the comedy element offered by many smartphone apps, such as Old Booth or Aging Booth.

Kemelmacher-Shlizerman wasn’t able to resist running actor George Clooney through the process to get a glance of him with curly hair. The treatment was also tried on actress Keri Russell.

While speaking to UW Today, Kemelmacher-Shlizerman said, “This is a way to try on different looks or personas without actually changing your physical appearance. While imagining what you’d look like with a new hairstyle is mind blowing, it also lets you experiment with creative imaginative scenarios”.

According to a report in Engadget by Brittany Vincent, "Ah, the future. You don't even have to use Cosmopolitan Virtual Makeover to try on different hairstyles and other looks these days even if you aren't proficient with Photoshop. All you need is a selfie to try out curly hair, the 1930s or even a different culture."

It's possible using Dreambit, a face-swapping search engine that automatically analyzes any photo you upload and figures out how to crop it into images you search for. Your results incorporate your face, cropped and colorized and adapted to the images you receive. It sure does beat the heck out of doing it all manually.

Created by computer vision researcher Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman at the University of Washington, Dreambit is an interesting tool that can and will be used for tons of silly applications, but the serious implications it has are infinite as well. In a press release, Shlizerman noted how the engine could be used in missing persons cases as it can adapt how victims in said cases can change their looks over time. As the software's still in beta, however, it's far from use by law enforcement just yet.

A report published in The Hindu revealed, "Scientists have developed a new system that can let you imagine how you would look with a different hairstyle and colour, or in another time period, age or country. After uploading an input photo, you type in a search term — such as “curly hair,” “India” or “1930s,” researchers said."

The system called Dreambit developed by researchers from University of Washington in the U.S. lets a person imagine how they would look with a different hairstyle or colour, or in a different time period, age, country or anything else that can be queried in an image search engine.

The new software can also help show what a missing child or person evading the law might look like if their appearance has been purposefully disguised, or even how they would look at an advanced age if years have passed, they said.