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Contributed by J. R. Ransom
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 Special Effects "But there are still some effects that are only available to the pros in Hollywood. Imagine you shot a video of your friend but want to improve his appearance with more facial hair and blushing cheeks. Unless you have access to an editing studio it will be hard to make these changes look realistic. As a face moves it changes shape in different parts become visible. Anything added on needs to change shape as well. But now researchers at Microsoft (UK) have come up with a new method that should make it easier to alter videos."
Andrew Fitzgibbon, Microsoft: "In Hollywood, the trick is to use every piece of information you have about the footage as tightly as possible. So, if you know you're dealing with a face you use a special model that understands faces. And if you know you're dealing with a giraffe, you use special tricks for the giraffe. We've built a genera; purpose system. It just should understand any video and the same techniques should apply in any situation..." |
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Contributed by J. R. Ransom
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 Animated Clones At Trinity College in Dublin, researchers are looking at how to make virtual crowds more realistic. And the recent study, they gauged the effectiveness of two tricks used by animators. They first creates more than one character based on the same physical model. Clones may look the same or an animator may choose to change their clothing. The second method uses a few different walking styles which are applied to many virtual beings.
Unsurprisingly, clones with the same body type were much easier to detect than those that move the same way. When motion clones moved out of sync they were even harder to spot. But examining current technology isn't all this team has been up to. "We've created a virtual Dublin city." |
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Contributed by J. R. Ransom
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 Future of Internet Internet connection > 31-03-2008 > 6,600,000,000 Human beings > 1,000,000,000 Users connected > A global good > Global oversight > Open & Fair access > More & high volume traffic > Text > Sound > Images > Video > Education growth & development > New business process & jobs > Government Services > Easy & Safe Use > No Barriers > 3D world > Entertainment > Mobility soil > Mobility sea > Mobility air > Anytime > Anywhere > 31-03-2013 > 7,000,000,000 human beings > 4,000,000,000 users connected > The future of the internet is our future. |
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Contributed by J. R. Ransom
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 Jason Snell Jason Snell, MacWorld Editorial Director: "...what we're going to talk about is something a little newsier, namely the release of the MacBook Air. It was announced at MacWorld Expo, on January 15th, and it's arrived. I have one right here. Oooo, it's very thin.
"...The MacBook Air is thin and light. That is what it's all about. If you're somebody who cares more about processor speed and a big hard drive and lots of flexibility, lots of options when you order it on the Apple Store, you're not gonna get that with this product.
"And that's OK. This is a product that's very specifically for a certain audience. It's the audience that cares about the fact that this product is roughly three-quarters on an inch thick at its thickest point. And for me more importantly, it weighs 3 pounds..." |
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Contributed by J. R. Ransom
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 Nifty Little Robot "Many robotics researchers are now taking inspiration from nature. It's not only the brains of the animals they're copying, but also their shapes and their behavior in unpredictable situations.
Swiss researchers developed a model of a salamander's spinal cord and created a similar system to control the movement of their salamander robot. It receives electrical signals from a wireless laptop that can tell it to switch from swimming to walking and to change speed or direction. Nature helped these scientists, but it also turned out that their robot helped neuro-biologists understand four-legged locomotion.
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