Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 22 to 35 of 35

Thread: IProgresu!

  1. #22
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    (H)ITech, IAliens!

    The hi-tech scanner that turns actors into aliens, warts and all The Times Kaya Burgess

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multim...7__431629c.jpg

    In the cinemas and video games of the near future, computer-generated characters will be so lifelike that individual skin cells and hair follicles will be visible, because of a new high-definition form of digital animation technology.

    The distinction between real-life actors and computer graphics has already been blurred by films such as Beowulf and Avatar — which used computer-generated imagery (CGI) to create animated versions of leading actors — but until now they risked seeming rather plastic-looking.

    But thanks to new super-high resolution facial scanning you will now be able to see every blemish and crease in Angelina Jolie’s virtual cheek or Zoe Saldana’s digital forehead.

    Researchers at the University of Southern California and Imperial College London have developed techniques to scan centimetre-square patches of skin from the cheek, forehead, nose, chin and temple in such high resolution that a single skin cell covers three pixels on the screen.

    The team has also polarised the light source used during the scanning to pick up not only the light reflecting off the skin’s surface but also light that penetrates below the epidermis and scatters back, providing greater depth and tone to the final image.

    The scanning, which uses high- resolution stills cameras in a laboratory, also captures how the skin behaves under different types of light and during different facial expressions. The scanned patches can then be mapped on to a 3-D image of the actor, created with motion-capture technology.

    As a result, computer-generated characters will no longer be so “plastic-looking”, according to Paul Debevec, the associate director of graphics research at USC, whose earlier techniques were used on James Cameron’s Avatar. “The bumpiness of the surface of the skin, at the micron scale, actually affects how light reflects off the surface,” Professor Debevec explained.

    “That’s what makes it look healthy or oily or pasty or chalky. It makes someone look like a human being made out of organic material and not like a computer-generated zombie.” To make Avatar, artists had to go back to the CGI imagery of the blue-skinned Na’vi characters and add blemishes, such as moles or creases, by hand. This vastly increased the man-hours and expense of the film, which was nearly 60 per cent computer-generated and cost more than £150 million.

    The process will now be much cheaper, Professor Debevec said, and video game developers at Activision have already created mathematical algorithms that can mimic many of the effects of the high-definition scanning, greatly reducing the time, expense and processing power needed.

    This will allow hyper-realistic CGI characters to appear on video games consoles and could allow film directors to create CGI scenes in real time.

    Professor Debevec said: “In the future it might be the less expensive movies that use CGI technology, while big budget movies will be the only ones who can still afford to go out on location and shoot in Paris or Bermuda and take up actors’ time.”

    Abhijeet Ghosh, from the computing department at Imperial College London, helped to develop the “facial microgeometry scanning” process and was approached by Avon cosmetics company to help them to analyse the effects of make-up on the skin.

    He predicted that cosmetics customers may be able to use apps in future to see how their faces would look with different types of foundation. “When you start scanning skin at that scale, it could also have medical or dermatological applications,” Dr Ghosh said.

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/f...cle3815697.ece
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  2. #23
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    IApp, IPortofel, IChei:

    App promises to make that desperate hunt for lost wallet a thing of the past The Times Murad Ahmed

    Can’t find your wallet? Forgotten where you left the keys? The frustrating search for all those mislaid things may soon be over.

    Scientists have created a system that enables people to look for lost items using a special search engine on their phone or computer. Within seconds, a user will be told exactly which drawer their purse is in, or whether the car keys are behind the sofa cushions.

    The gadget, called FindMyStuff, allows a user to type the name of whatever they have lost into a Google-like page or app. Thanks to a network of tiny sensors that have previously been placed on their valuables, within furniture and around the home, the app will return an answer such as: “Your keys are on the mantelpiece.”

    The system, the brainchild of a team of computer scientists at Ulm University in Germany, is part of the trend for “tagging” technologies being created by companies and research groups around the world.

    Florian Schaub, the creator of FindMyStuff, said that with sensors, transmitters and chips becoming ever smaller and cheaper, the world was already moving towards “digital homes”, places where almost everything we own can communicate with computers.

    “This is the direction we’re going towards,” said Mr Schaub. “Our system can be retrospectively fitted to be used on wallets and keychains. If you could get the tech smaller, you could use it on sunglasses and things like that. Phone manufacturers can integrate this technology into phones, and you easily make smart furniture by putting antennas inside.”

    The FindMyStuff system works by putting electronic tags, the size of a postage stamp, on items such as purses and keys. The tag contains two low-power transmitters — an RFID chip and a Zigbee radio. Furniture and other fixed items around the home are then fitted with small receivers, which can also send messages over a wireless internet connection.

    When someone asks the FindMyStuff search engine where their car keys are, the system is fired up. If a tagged item falls within 25cm of a RFID receiver — for example, if keys are jammed within sofa cushions — the tag is triggered. Otherwise, the Zigbee radio transmitter, which needs more power but can operate over longer distances, can be activated.

    The German team will unveil the FindMyStuff system next month. Mr Schaub said that they hoped to make the system available commercially if electronics companies and furniture makers helped to build and market the product. He said that the system should cost no more than €50 (£43).

    American companies such as Tile, Phone Halo and Stick-N-Find use bluetooth transmitters to attach tags on to objects. However, bluetooth connections can be unreliable, use a lot of power and have a range of around 30 metres, which is further reduced by obstructions such as walls and doors.

    Mr Schaub said that his team’s system had fewer limitations. “We want to extend that idea so you can search in other rooms or environments, such as if you lost your wallet at work or at a friend’s house.”

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/techno...cle3839180.ece
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  3. #24
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    IPhone You... Later. In Autumn.

    iPhone 6 concept shows thinner handset with touch-sensitive home button and 12MP camera uSwitch.com Dew Alam

    Just as smart looking as the iPhone 5, but 20% slimmer.

    http://s0.uswitchstatic.com/_img/lib...x24_expand.jpg

    Phone renders are a dime a dozen, but for once we have been graced with a concept for Apple’s next flagship phone that seems very much a possibility.

    Created by Arthur Reis, a budding designer who aspires to join the ranks of Jony Ive and Shin Nishibori someday, 3D renderings of the iPhone 6 imagine a handset that looks largely identical to iPhone 5 (think: anodised aluminium casing with chamfered edges), but an impressive 20 per cent slimmer at just 6.1mm thick.



    The handset also features a 12-megapixel camera with an ‘iSight Pro’ sensor boasting an f/1.8 aperture and a ‘Magic TrackPad’ that replaces the physical home button with a touch-sensitive equivalent.

    As far as we’re concerned, this is one of the best iPhone concepts we’ve seen, principally because it doesn’t go crazy on novel or unrealistic features as most concepts do.

    Apple is always trying to make its handsets slimmer, so a more slender iPhone is within the realms of possibility. And with Samsung upping the ante with a 13-megapixel camera on the freshly launched Galaxy S4, we can certainly expect the iPhone 6 to match its competition in the imaging stakes.

    The iPhone 6 is hotly tipped to land this summer, possibly sometime in July. Although there’s still a chance that Apple might stick to an autumn release cycle for new iPhone launches.

    What do you think of Reis’s iPhone 6 concept? Let us know in the comments section below.

    http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/...h_home_button/

    Source:

    International Business Times
    Last edited by miril; 11th August 2013 at 19:22.
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  4. #25
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    iPhone 5S ‘dropping September 20th’, iPhone 6 a few weeks later uSwitch.com Jonathan Leggett

    Business site names a date.

    The next edition of the standard iPhone will beat its much-rumoured low-cost stablemate to market, a leading tech business site forecasts.

    Dave Smith, editor of International Business Times, has hung his hat on a September 20th due date for the full-fat, full-featured iPhone 5S. His forecast is based on Apple’s previous release cycles and supply-chain rumbles.

    The more affordable handset, which be titled the iPhone 6, will join it on shop shelves not too long after, he claims, with a launch event likely to happen a matter of weeks later.

    Smith’s logic derives from Apple’s habit of leaving 100 days between the announcement of a new operating system and the day it is made available to the public, as was the case with iOS 6.

    Assuming that happens again (and it’s worth noting here that Apple typically very closely adheres to previous rollout patterns for new devices), it means that iOS 7 will drop on September 18th.

    Looking once more to the last iPhone, Smith notes that it was launched two days after iOS 6 landing. If Apple does the same this time, we’re looking at a big bells and whistles event on September 20th to announce the coming on a new handset.

    The mooted release of the cheaper iPhone 6 within weeks is, Smith says, aimed at avoiding “excess lines [that’s queues to you and me] at the Apple stores".

    Fresh images purported to show the handset surfaced today, corroborating claims that the phone will come in a host of colour options and will swap premium materials for a more economical plastic construction.

    http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/...w_weeks_later/

    Source:

    International Business Times
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  5. #26
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    IBrain, IMini Brain:

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multim...28_446070c.jpg

    Scientists grow first ‘brain’ from human stem cells The Times Hannah Devlin Scientists

    Scientists have grown functioning “miniature brains” from human stem cells for the first time, in an advance that promises to revolutionise the study of conditions such as schizophrenia and autism.

    The grey pea-sized blobs, known as organoids, closely resemble the human brain at about nine weeks of development.

    They were shown to have functioning neurons, which fired, and the precursors to the major cortical regions of the brain and retina.

    Andrew Jackson, a geneticist at the University of Edinburgh who co-authored the research, described the achievement as a “huge step forward”.

    “We’ve never grown complex structures like this before,” he said. “They will give us a completely new insight into how the human brain is formed.”

    Previously scientists had been able to grow only identical groups of neurons in culture, rather than anything resembling a three-dimensional brain.

    The scientists were quick to address ethical concerns that their work could lead to Frankenstein-like creations of conscious brains in test tubes.

    “This would be extrapolating a long way into the future,”said Dr Jackson. “And just because something can be done, it doesn’t mean it should be done.”

    The research also raises the possibility eventually of growing replacement brain parts to treat ageing or disease.

    Jurgen Knoblich, who led the study at the Institute of Biotechnology in Vienna, said: “It would be great if we were able to do something like this, but I’m pessimistic.”

    He said that the ultimate barrier would be the complexity of the adult brain, in which different regions are very intimately integrated by axons that link-knit together adjacent areas as well as passing from the cortex straight to the spinal cord into the body. “This was not the goal of our study,” he added.

    To create the brain tissue, the researchers developed a finely tuned culture system that capitalises on stem cells’ innate ability to organise themselves into complex organ structures.

    They began with human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, which they used to produce neuroectoderm — the layer of cells in the embryo from which all components of the brain and nervous system develop. Fragments of this tissue were then embedded in gel droplets that provided a scaffold for complex tissue growth and placed into a spinning bioreactor. The circulation of culture media in the bioreactor improves oxygen and nutrient supply, allowing the organoids to grow to a larger size.

    After a month, the tissue fragments had organised themselves into primitive structures that could be recognised as developing brain regions such as retina, choroid plexus and cerebral cortex. At the microscopic level in the cortex, radial glial stem cells, pivotal in developing the central nervous system, were seen to generate neurons in an identical manner to that known to occur in normal development.

    At two months, the organoids had reached their maximum size of 4mm, but they lacked the more detailed organisational structure of a fully developed brain.

    Using patient induced pluripotent stem cells, the researchers were able to model the development of microcephaly, a disorder that has proved difficult to reproduce in mice. As expected, the organoids created using these cells grew to a smaller size.

    On further investigation, they found that genetic mutations in these patients results in an earlier than normal switch in neural stem cells from self-renewal (making copies of themselves) to differentiation into nerve cells, leading to an overall reduction in cell number and size of the organoid.

    Dr Dean Burnett, a lecturer in psychiatry at Cardiff University, said that the development had the potential to overcome practical and ethical issues surrounding direct brain experimentation on humans or animals. However, he added that the organoids were a long way from replicating the human brain in all its elaborate detail.

    “Saying you can replicate the workings of the brain with some tissue in a dish in the lab is like inventing the first abacus and saying you can use it to run the latest version of Microsoft Windows,” he said. “There is a connection there, but we’re a long way from that sort of application yet.”

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/scienc...cle3854542.ece
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  6. #27
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    ILiquid, IPhone. Six-ist. Very Metal. Indeed.

    http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/...etal_exterior/
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  7. #28
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    ITV. Next (Curved) Generation.

    Next generation TVs step ahead of the curve The Times Murad Ahmed

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multim...3-_501637c.jpg

    Curved and “bendable” television sets, with large screens that create a cinematic experience within people’s homes, are among the new products revealed by the world’s largest technology companies this week.

    Samsung revealed it was launching the world’s first bendable television set yesterday, featuring a screen that transforms from flat to curved at the touch of a button.

    Meanwhile, the likes of Panasonic and LG are among the major companies hoping to entice millions of customers with high definition TVs with curved screens. The companies suggest that the concave design creates a wider field of view, meaning viewers can see more without the machines taking up as much space in the living room.

    The devices are among the highlights of the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the world’s largest gadgets event, which is taking place this week. 150,000 people make the annual pilgrimage to try out the latest wares from hundreds of companies that are trying to capture the attention of technology fans and experts.

    Samsung showed off a prototype of its bendable television, a device with an 85 inch screen, where a mechanical system can push the edges in and out. The technology would allow users, through a remote control, to determine how far the screen could be flexed. Viewers will be able to adjust the screen according to how many people were watching and how far they away they were sitting. The device can then be pushed flat against a wall when switched off.

    “The TV seems bigger than it is,” said Joe Stinziano, executive vice-president of Samsung Electronics America. “It’s all about giving the customer control over the viewing experience.” He added that the devices created a “3D effect” without the need for special glasses and would go on sale in the second half of this year.

    Samsung and LG both also unveiled “curved” television sets, with huge 105 inch screens. Panasonic showed off devices that were both convex and concave in shape. Meanwhile, LG also showed off a new “G Flex” mobile phone featuring a curved screen, a design it believes matches the contours of a persons face and means that calls will be heard more clearly.

    Some analysts dismissed the curved gadgets as a gimmick, saying there was little evidence that such designs added to a person’s viewing experience. Martin Garner, from CCS Insight, the technology research group, said: “It is up to the firms is to demonstrate that the world really needs this.”

    Many of the televisions, which are expected to cost thousands of pounds, also feature “4K” displays- so called because they are four times sharper than current high definition screens. Sony and Samsung were among those to show off new, flat 4K televisions, some of which are more than 100 inches diagonally.

    Executives are convinced that consumers are ready to upgrade flatscreens first purchased a few years ago, and are willing to trade in their older devices for sharper images. “It’s like looking through a window,” said Mike Fasulo, president and chief operating officer of Sony.

    Critics contend that 4K is unlikely to take off soon, as very few films and television shows are currently shot and produced to fit these “ultra high definition” screens. However, Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix, the video streaming company, said that its latest TV series, including House of Cards, the American political thriller starring Kevin Spacey, will be produced in the 4K format. Sony also said it will unveil a suite of 4K films made by the company’s movie studio, that can be downloaded and watched on the devices.

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/busine...cle3967984.ece
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  8. #29
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    IWatch You, Healthfully!

    Apple pregateste lansarea iWatch. Prima CONFIRMARE OFICIALA (VIDEO)

    http://www.gadgetreport.ro/wp-conten.../06/iwatch.jpg

    Apple se pregătește intens pentru lansarea noii game de gadgeturi inteligente cu care spera sa dea o lovitura similara iPhone-ului si iPad-ului. Potrivit expertilor, iWatch se anunta a fi cel mai spectaculos ceas inteligent din piata, urmand sa rescrie standardele in industria de profil.

    GSMArena relateaza, citand surse oficiale din cadrul furnizorilor Apple, ca ceasul inteligent iWatch va fi lansat pe piata in luna octombrie, probabil impreuna cu un nou iPhone, si ca vor fi produse intre 3 si 5 milioane de exemplare lunar.



    Asta inseamna ca Apple isi pune mari sperante ca va da lovitura cu noul iWatch.

    Informatia vine sa confirme relatarile GadgetReport.ro care afirmau, recent, ca productia iWatch va incepe in intervalul iulie-august, ceea ce inseamna ca lansarea ceasului inteligent va avea loc cel mai probabil in octombrie. Producatorul taiwanez Quanta Computer, cel care va construi ceasurile iWatch, lucreaza deja la foc continuu pentru a pregati noul produs.

    Potrivit surselor, iWatch ar urma sa vina cu un display OLED curbat de 1.5- 2-inchi, acoperit cu safir, si senzori care vor colecta tot felul de informatii, de la nivelul de glucoza din sange la cosumul de calorii, activitatea din timpul somnului si nivelul de oxigen din sange.

    Smartwatch-ul ar urma sa colecteze, bineinteles, si datele biometrice gratie senzoului Touch ID, ce va fi importat de pe iPhone.

    iWatch ar urma sa ruleze o versiune speciala a sistemului de operare iOS 8 si sa ofere acces la noile aplicatii HealthKit si Fitness-tracking.

    Dincolo de forma si data de lansare, Brian Blair, analist de la Rosenblatt Securities, un specialist care tot timpul a anticipat corect urmatoarele miscari pregatite de Apple, afirma recent, citat de GadgetReport.ro, ca Apple va lansa doua modele de iWatch, cate unul pentru ambele sexe.

    Ceasul inteligent Apple ar uma sa aiba, de asemenea, o facilitate care il va diferentia fata de concurenta – se va incarca fara niciun cablu, de la un metru distanta de priza.

    iWatch ar urma sa fie echipat cu o bratara speciala, cu rezonanta magnetica, care va contine si acumulatorul de 100 mAh cu proprietati de incarcare wireless.

    Tehnologia exista deja si ar urma sa fie folosita si de sud-coreenii de la Samsung, pe gadgeturile ce le va lansa in acest an.

    Urmariti mai jos un clip video care aduna cele mai interesante concepte iWatch lansate pe internet



    http://www.gadgetreport.ro/gadget/ap...ficiala-video/
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  9. #30
    senior Zamo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Bucuresti
    Posts
    217
    Reputatie
    1
    Miril, asta este cu dedicatie.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    http://progresuldincotroceni.blogspot.ro/

  10. #31
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    Saru' mana! Ce surpriza placuta, Zamo! COYS! HAI PROGRESUL! Unde ai vazut chestia asta, un link, ceva?
    Last edited by miril; 19th July 2014 at 10:17.
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  11. #32
    Abomination Johnny D's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Zalau
    Posts
    61,503
    Reputatie
    0
    Ce COYS, bai? Ai uitat unde esti, COYP(platanii)!
    A postat Zamo unde nu trebuie, sa stii ca este si sectiune cu Tottenham, dar... ma rog, ideea e f reusita, mai buna era o poza cu un tun insa!
    The difference between a good and an awesome diplomat is the ability to reconcile the arrogant assholes with the scardy whiners, it's almost an art really!
    I know because I'M BOTH!

  12. #33
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    Scrisesem si HAI PROGRESUL in...navy dar n-am mai controlat ce a iesit caci as fi constatat ca desi "am scris" nu am...testat.
    Last edited by miril; 19th July 2014 at 10:47.
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

  13. #34
    Banned
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    11
    Reputatie
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by miril View Post
    Scrisesem si HAI PROGRESUL in...navy dar n-am mai controlat ce a iesit caci as fi constatat ca desi "am scris" nu am...testat.
    E bine oricum!Nu conteaza!

  14. #35
    Pro Memoria miril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Stockholm
    Posts
    29,276
    Reputatie
    0
    IPicasso, IApple!

    How secret of Apple’s sleek designs is drawn from Picasso’s simple bull James Dean The Times

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multim...4-_749243c.jpg

    Apple employees are being taught to think like Picasso when they design iPhones, iPads and Macbooks.

    Students at the electronics giant’s secretive Apple University have been instructed to take inspiration from Picasso’s The Bull, a series of lithograph prints in which the Spanish master breaks down a brushstroke image of a bull into an abstract line drawing.

    The sleek, simple forms of Apple’s products, which are designed by a team led by the British designer Jonnathan Yves, have helped to propel Apples's annual sales past 170 million dollars.

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/techno...3459.ece#tab-4
    "The minority is sometimes right, the majority always wrong." - A Progres...sive Thinker

    "If you support a team that fails to win the league for years, it does feel like a kind of cult'." - Salman Rushdie

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •