Chapter 11. Practical applications of GANs

As captivating as generating handwritten digits and turning apples into oranges may be, GANs can be used for a lot more. This chapter explores some of the practical applications of GANs. It is only fitting that this chapter focuses on areas where GANs have been harnessed for practical use. After all, one of our main goals with this book is to give you the knowledge and tools necessary to not only understand what has been accomplished with GANs to date, but also to empower you to find new applications of your choosing. There is no better place to start that journey than taking a look at several successful examples of just that.

You have already seen several innovative use cases of GANs. Chapter 6 showed how Progressive GANs can create not only photorealistic renditions of human faces, but also samples of, arguably, much greater practical importance: medical mammograms. Chapter 9 showed how the CycleGAN can create realistic simulated virtual environments by translating clips from a video game into movie-like scenes, which can then be used to train self-driving cars.

11.1. GANs in medicine

11.1.1. Using GANs to improve diagnostic accuracy

11.1.2. Methodology

11.1.3. Results

11.2. GANs in fashion

11.2.1. Using GANs to design fashion

11.2.2. Methodology

11.2.3. Creating new items matching individual preferences

11.2.4. Adjusting existing items to better match individual preferences

11.3. Conclusion

Summary