Disney’s real-time motion capture tech only needs a few sensors

Motion capture systems typically require subjects to wear loads of sensors to be able to follow their movements. Disney wants to simplify the process, so its research lab has designed a physics-based system that needs much fewer sensors to work. A human actor can, say, wear sensors on both hands, both feet and the head only — as you can see above, five sensors are comparably few. The physics-based system then predicts how the rest of the body moves, looking for limb and joint positions that are physically plausible based on the activities of the subject’s hands and feet.

Disney Research has a more detailed, but highly technical, explanation of its creation:

“An inverse dynamics solver and physics-based body model are used, ensuring physical plausibility by computing joint torques and contact forces. A prior model is also used to give an improved estimate of motion of internal joints.”

Since the system allows real-time motion tracking with but a few accessories, it could make animated movies easier to create and full-body VR experiences common. Think about it: this system could allow companies to create truly immersive VR games and experiences for the masses, since users wouldn’t need to wear full-body suits or to slap on over a dozen sensors.

You can see the system in action in the video below. Keep a close eye on the green man in middle, since that’s the result of the physics-based system’s computations. The yellow guy with the crazy dance steps? That’s what the computer had to work with.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Disney Research

Opera Browser for Mac Gains Built-in Currency Converter

Opera has added a built-in currency converter to its free web browser to make online international purchases a simpler experience for users (via TechCrunch).

The new feature appears in the browser’s Preferences under User Interface options, and can be enabled to automatically show conversions in the foreign currency of choice whenever the user highlights a price on a page. Conversions are calculated using the daily exchange rate from the European Central Bank.

“Cross-border e-commerce is booming all around the world. According to research, within four years, 45 percent of online shoppers worldwide will purchase products from foreign online stores.” Opera’s Krystian Kolondra said in a blog post. “There are many countries, in which more than 50 percent of people do it already.”

The option appears after updating to Opera version 42, and joins the browser’s growing list of unique features, such as its built-in VPN and ad blocker.

Opera is currently selling its browser business to a Chinese consortium for $600 million and will see the company’s mobile and desktop operations transferred as part of the deal. Opera will continue to own its Mediaworks ad business, apps, and games unit, as well as its TV business, after an initial $1.2 billion deal to acquire these other departments collapsed.

Opera browser is a free download for Mac from the company’s website.

Tag: Opera browser
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Latest Android 7.1.1 build for Pixel and Pixel XL fixes MMS issues on UK’s O2

This is how you do maintenance fixes.

A week after rolling out the Android 7.1.1 update to the Pixel and Pixel XL, Google is now rolling out a new build (NMF26Q) that fixes MMS-related issues on UK’s O2.

The changelog for the build includes a single fix aimed at O2 customers:

Remove spaces in front of APN types so that telephony can find APNs that can handle a particular type properly.

As for the LTE issue that prevented a small number of Pixel customers from connecting to Band 4, that particular problem was fixed in last week’s update.

It looks like the NMF26Q build will be rolling out shortly, with the factory images and OTA files now live.

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

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Giant black hole could be to blame for brightest supernova ever

3.8 billion years ago, a star in the southern sky exploded and released 570 billion times more light than our sun and more than twice as much as any other recorded supernova. That star, dubbed ASASSN-15lh, is the brightest supernovae ever observed and, a year after witnessing its superluminescence in 2015, astronomers believe that they’ve figured out why it burned so brightly: It was being eaten by a supermassive black hole a billion times more massive than the sun.

In fact, ASASSN-15lh was so bright that researchers have begun to question whether it constitutes a superluminous supernova in the conventional sense. For one, the explosion occurred in a reddish galaxy where these sorts of phenomena don’t generally happen, according to lead study author and astrophysicist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Giorgos Leloudas. What’s more, follow-up observations revealed that the supernova wasn’t really behaving like one. Supernovas typically cool and expand after they explode. ASASSN-15lh actually got hotter. Plus, the star was located near the center of its galaxy. You know what else is typically found in the center of galaxies? Bingo, supermassive black holes.

This suggests that ASASSN-15lh wasn’t a massive star that collapsed as it ran out of fuel, but rather, a smaller star that was literally ripped apart by the black hole — an event known as a tidal disruption event. Only 10 of these events have ever been observed. “Tidal disruption events,” such as these, Leloudas told Scientific American, “show a much larger diversity than what we knew before, and that they can reach extreme luminosities.” The team cannot currently say for certain that this is what became of ASASSN-15lh, but, like a cosmological Magic 8 Ball, signs point to “yes”.

Source: Scientific American

Backpage executives cleared of pimping charges

The long-running legal battle between Congress and the online classified ads site Backpage.com has finally come to a close after a California judge dismissed pimping charges against the site’s CEO and co-founders today. The site’s “adult” section of the site has long been known for facilitating sex trafficking and other illegal activity, but Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman agreed with the Backpage execs’ argument that they were not responsible for third-party postings on their site.

CEO Carl Ferrer was initially hit with multiple pimping charges — including pimping a minor — for running what California Attorney General Kamala Harris once called “the world’s top online brothel.” During the case, Harris accused the Ferrer and his co-founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin of making millions off of sex trafficking and prostitution, while an earlier Senate investigation found evidence that Backpage staff had edited ad content to obscure illegal activity, but the defendants successfully dodged those charges by invoking Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects online service providers from illegal activity committed by third-party users of their site or service.

That’s the same piece of legislature Airbnb tried to use to argue that the company was not responsible if its users posted listings for illegal short-term rentals on its service. A San Francisco Judge eventually threw out Airbnb’s lawsuit against the city, but in this case Judge Bowman in Sacramento ruled that the CDA absolved the Backpage owners of any wrongdoing, writing: “By enacting the CDA, Congress struck a balance in favor of free speech by providing for both a foreclosure from prosecution and an affirmative defense at trial for those who are deemed an internet service provider.”

Source: Ars Technica

Apple’s new TV app: What is it and how does it work?

In September 2016, unveiled a new TV app, which is now available to download.

The new TV app is a unique, free way for Apple TV and iOS devices to offer universal search. CEO Tim Cook said Apple wants Apple TV to be “the one place to access all of your television… a unified TV experience” and that the new TV app will “completely change how you watch TV on your Apple TV as well as your iPhone and iPad”. It basically brings all the TV shows and movies from across all your apps and services in one place.

In an on-stage demo, Apple showed how the new app surfaces content from all your apps, and then when you select a movie or show, it kicks you into that app. When you press menu, you end up back in the individual app’s interface, but you can go back to the TV app by pressing the TV button on the remote (if configured, but more on that later). Also, when you install a new app on your Apple TV or iOS device, the TV app will sign you in with your cable single-sign on (which you can read all about from here), and it’ll load “Watch Now”.

Watch Now is where you see a collection of available shows and movies from iTunes and apps. The new TV app can also access your collection of iTunes movies and shows rented or purchased from iTunes. Here’s everything you need to know about the app, including how it works.

• Apple’s new TV app puts all your content in one place

What is Apple’s new TV app?

Apple

Apple has launched a new TV app alongside its iOS 10.2 update for all iPhones and iPads running iOS 10. Previously, on the iPhone it was called the Videos app, but with iOS 10.2, it has been changed to TV, with the purpose of helping you discover new stuff to watch on your iOS device.

Apple

Also, as part of the tvOS 10.1 update, the Apple TV (fourth-generation) also got the new TV app. It’s meant to be a central hub for TV and movie content on your Apple TV. It shows stuff from iTunes, your library, and your subscription services, such as Hulu, Starz, HBO Now, and CBS.

How do you get Apple’s new TV app?

iPhone/iPad

Download and install the iOS 10.2 update (see instructions here) on your device. It is a free update that can be downloaded over the air via the update mechanism in the Settings app. Once the update concludes, search for the new TV app if you don’t see it on your Home screen.

Apple TV (fourth-generation)

Download and install the tvOS 10.1 update (see instructions here) on your set-top box. It is a free update that can be downloaded over the air via the update mechanism in the Settings screen. Once the update concludes, search for the new TV app if you don’t see it on your Home screen.

How does Apple’s new TV app work on iOS?

Apple/Pocket-lint

From the moment you launch the app on your iOS device (and pass the intro/welcome screen), you will see a navigation bar running along the bottom. It has tabs for the following screens: Library, Watch Now, Store, and Search. Tap any of these tabs to access their respective screens.

Library

The new TV app on the iPhone and iPad has a Library screen so you can find all the movies and TV shows you’ve already purchased on iTunes. You can browse content by movies or TV shows, recently purchased, or genres. When you are ready to watch something, tap it, then select the Play button. You can also download it to your device for offline-viewing. Just tap the download button after you select the TV show/movie.

All downloaded TV shows and movies will be available in the Downloaded section in the Library tab of the new TV app. When you tap a downloaded movie or TV show, it will automatically open and play.

Watch Now

The Watch Now screen in the new TV app lets you access all the TV shows and movies you’re currently watching so you can pick up where you left off. If you start watching something from a service like iTunes or Hulu, it will appear in the Watch Now tab. The service/app must support Apple’s new TV app, however. And when you are finished an episode, the next available one will appear in the Watch Now screen.

If you’re watching, for instance, Westworld by HBO, tapping the episode will automatically open the HBO Now app and begin playing. You can find a different format by tapping the More button (ellipses icon) next to the Play button. This feature will also let you open unsupported apps like Netflix.

Store

Let’s say you want to watch watch Westworld but don’t have HBO Now or HBO Go. You could get it from the Store screen in the new TV app, which will show you all the apps that currently support it (if there are any). You will also see a section spotlighting apps that don’t require a cable subscription. The Store tab also highlight new and trending titles that you can purchase or rent from Apple’s iTunes store.

When you find an app you want to add to your device, tap Get to download it. And after you launch an app that supports the TV app, you will be asked if you want to connect it to the TV app. Tap Continue to add it to the TV app. Doing so, allows the TV app to suggest more things to watch.

Search

Tap the Search tab and enter any TV show or movie in the text field. Apple will then populate suggestions. You can also use the Search tab to see trending movies and TV shows. Simples.

How does Apple’s new TV app work on Apple TV?

Apple

Before you read this next part, remember that in tvOS 10.1 you can decide whether the Siri Remote’s Home button should open the new TV app or take you to the Apple TV Home screen. If you’d like to change this, open the Settings app on your box, select Remotes and Devices, and click Home Button to decide whether the Home button will launch the new TV app or the Apple TV Home screen.

Watch a TV show or movie

Open the TV app from the Home screen or by pressing the Home button on the Apple TV, then select a show or movie from Up Next section to continue watching it, or you can scroll down to What to Watch or another section to choose a different show or movie. Click Play to watch.

Connect apps to the new TV app

The new TV app doesn’t support all streaming services, including Netflix, but it does automatically connect with supported apps like Hulu. All you have to do is launch the TV app and click Continue on the pop-up that asks if you would like to connect apps like Hulu, HBO Now, and Showtime.You can always remove the connection , including Play History, under Settings > Apps > TV on the Apple TV.

Add TV shows and movies to Up NextThe Up Next highlights the latest episodes of your favourite shows and allows you to jump back into something you were watching without losing your place. Here’s what to do if you want to “add” a TV show or movie to Up Next:

• Open the TV app, or an app connected to it (like Hulu or HBO Now)
• Play a movie or TV show
• Alternatively, open the TV app
• Navigate to the Watch Now tab
• Select a TV show or movie from Up Next to continue watching

Play a video from your library

All your purchased content is already available on the Apple TV. Simply open the TV app, navigate to the Library section, and swipe to browse your library. From there, select a title and click Play.

Buy TV shows and moviesYou can also buy movies and TV shows from the TV app. Just open the TV app, navigate to the Store section, scroll down, choose a title, and click the Buy or Rent button.

Where is Apple’s new TV app available?

Apple’s new TV app is now available – but only in the US for Apple TV (fourth-generation), iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

What’s on TV: ‘Man in the High Castle,’ ‘Suicide Squad’

This week on streaming: Amazon is delivering the second season of its The Man in the High Castle series, Netflix premieres include The Oa, Barry, Nobel and Crazyhead, Hulu presents the season finale of Chance. On Blu-ray, Suicide Squad is available in 1080p, 4K and/or 3D, or you can check out Star Trek: The Original Series – The Roddenberry Vault. The Blizzard Mountain expansion for Forza Horizon 3 is here too, along with Stardew Valley, Bastion and Drive!Drive!Drive! Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Suicide Squad (4K) (3D)
• Ben-Hur
• Star Trek: The Original Series – The Roddenberry Vault
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (4K)
• Bridget Jones’s Baby
• Fear the Walking Dead (S2)
• Forza Horizon 3: Blizzard Mountain DLC (Xbox One, PC)
• Perfect (PS4, PC)
• Batman: The Telltale Series Episode 5 (PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360)
• Drive!Drive!Drive! (PS4)
• Trove (Xbox One, PS4)
• Feist (PS4, Xbox One)
• Fat City VR (PS4)
• I Expect You to Die VR (PS4)
• Stardew Valley (PS4, Xbox One)
• Trove (PS4)
• Bastion (Xbox One)

Monday

• Ricardo O’Farrill: Christmas Special, Netflix, 3AM
• Monday Night Football: Ravens/Patriots, ESPN, 8:15PM
• The Great Christmas Light Fight, ABC, 8PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• Kevin Can Wait (fall finale), CBS, 8PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
• X Factor UK (fall finale), Axs, 8PM
• American Dad, TBS, 8:30PM
• Man with a Plan, CBS, 8:30PM
• The 1980s: The Deadliest Decade, Investigation Discovery, 9PM
• Mars, National Geographic Channel, 9PM
• 2 Broke Girls (fall finale), CBS, 9PM
• People of Earth, TBS, 9PM
• The Odd Couple, CBS, 9:30PM
• Explorer, National Geographic Channel, 10PM
• Timeless (fall finale), NBC, 10PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM
• StarTalk, National Geographic Channel, 11PM

Tuesday

• Nobel (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
• Tackle My Ride (fall finale), NFL Network, 8PM
• Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 8PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
• NCIS (fall finale), CBS, 8PM
• The Middle (fall finale), ABC, 8PM
• New Girl, Fox, 8:30PM
• American Housewife (fall finale), ABC, 8:30PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM (season finale), NBC, 9PM
• Bull (fall finale), CBS, 9PM
• Good Behavior, TNT, 9PM
• Teen Wolf, MTV, 9PM
• No Tomorrow, CW, 9PM
• Inside the NFL, Showtime 9PM
• Scream Queens, Fox, 9PM
• The Real O’Neals (fall finale), ABC, 9:30PM
• NCIS: NO (fall finale), CBS, 10PM
• Shooter, USA, 10PM
• Sweet/Vicious, MTV, 10PM
• Aftermath, Syfy, 10PM
• The Letter, Freeform, 10PM
• The Gary Owen Show, BET, 10PM
• Cyberwar, Viceland, 10:30PM
• Too Legit, MTV, 11PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Wednesday

• Chance (season finale), Hulu, 3AM
• A Pentatonix Christmas, NBC, 8PM
• The Goldbergs (fall finale), ABC, 8PM
• Survivor (season finale), CBS, 8PM
• The Timeline, NFL Network, 8PM
• Speechless (fall finale), ABC, 8:30PM
• Star (series premiere), Fox, 9PM
• NFL Turning Point, NBC Sports Network, 9PM
• Frequency, CW, 9PM
• Vikings, History, 9PM
• Modern Family (fall finale), ABC, 9PM
• Black-ish (fall finale), ABC, 9:30PM
• America’s Civil War (series premiere), American History Channel, 10PM
• BBC Music Awards, BBC America, 10PM
• Incorporated, Syfy, 10PM
• The Real World, MTV, 10PM
• Designated Survivor (fall finale), ABC, 10PM
• Rectify (series finale), Sundance, 10PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Thursday

• The Grand Tour, Amazon Prime, 7PM
• The Big Bang Theory (fall finale), CBS, 8PM
• The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball, CW, 8PM
• Rams/Seahawks football, NBC, 8:25PM
• The Great Indoors (fall finale), CBS, 8:30PM
• Nightwatch, A&E, 9PM
• The Great American Baking Show, ABC, 9PM
• Alone, History, 9PM
• Mom (fall finale), CBS, 9PM
• Life in Pieces (fall finale), CBS, 9:30PM
• Falling Water, USA, 10PM
• Pure Genius, CBS, 10PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM
• This is Not Happening, Comedy Central, 12:30AM

Friday

• The Oa, Netflix, 3AM
• Barry, Netflix, 3AM
• Call Me Francis (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• The Man in the High Castle (S2), Amazon, 3AM
• Crazyhead (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• No Second Chance (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• The Adventures of Puss in Boots (S4), Netflix, 3AM
• Last Man Standing (fall finale), ABC, 8PM
• The 85th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade, CW, 8PM
• Macgyver (fall finale), CBS, 8PM
• Dr. Ken (fall finale), ABC, 8:30PM
• The Exorcist (season finale), Fox, 9PM
• A Football Life: Kevin Greene (season finale), NFL Network, 9PM
• Running for his Life: The Lawrence Phillips Story, Showtime, 9PM
• Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 9PM
• Z Nation (season finale), Syfy, 9PM

Saturday

• UFC Fight Night, Fox, 8PM
• Dolphins/Jets football, NFL Network, 8:25PM
• Saturday Night Live: Casey Affleck / Chance the Rapper, NBC, 11:30PM

Sunday

• Cowboys/Giants Sunday Night Football, NBC, 8:20PM
• 60 Minutes, CBS, 7:30PM
• The Librarians, TNT, 8PM
• NCIS: LA (fall finale), CBS, 8:30PM
• Alaska: The Last Frontier, Discovery, 9PM
• Madam Secretary (fall finale), CBS, 9:30PM
• Shameless, Showtime, 9PM
• Berlin Station, Epix, 9PM
• The Affair, Showtime, 10PM
• Elementary (fall finale), CBS, 10:30PM
• Eyewitness (season finale), USA, 10PM
• Graves (season finale), Epix, 10PM

DARPA wants your gaming tactics for its drone army

Urban areas continue to vex the US military as tall buildings and narrow streets keep impeding troop communications and tactics. While ground soldiers have used single drones for years, DARPA believes that a whole swarm could mitigate those disadvantages, giving units more eyes and guns. Since the military is currently unable to control such swarms, DARPA is launching a new program to develop both drone-wrangling tech and the tactics they’d need to assist soldiers in urban environments. Oh, and they want video gamers to playtest the best strategies.

The program, called OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET), aims to produce over a hundred tactics to be used by systems of over a hundred unmanned air and/or ground drones. Developing a usable interface will be key, and researchers will consider using virtual and augmented reality along with gesture and voice commands.

To develop operational tactics and maneuvers, OFFSET will also make “a physics-based, swarm tactics game,” according to a DARPA press release. The networked game seems like a competitive playground, letting users explore different methods and submit their tactics and performance to a leaderboard for bragging rights. They even want players to interact and swap tactics, building a community of playtesters to mix-and-match collective behaviors and algorithms to hone the best ways to control drone swarms.

“With the technologies and tactics to be developed under OFFSET, we anticipate achieving a deeper understanding of how large numbers of increasingly autonomous air and ground robots can be leveraged to benefit urban warfighters,” DARPA program manager Timothy Chung said in the press release. “If we’re successful, this work could also bring entirely new scalable, dynamic capabilities to the battlefield, such as distributed perception, robust and resilient communications, dispersed computing and analytics, and adaptive collective behaviors.”

Via: Defense One

Source: DARPA