The content below is taken from the original (Flexible lens sheets could change way cameras see), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

Cameras are already embedded in a lot of devices, but what you could wrap them around things like a "skin?" That’s the premise of "flexible sheet cameras" developed by scientists at Columbia University. Rather than having just a single sensor, the devices use an array of lenses that change properties when the material is bent. The research could lead to credit card-sized, large-format cameras that you zoom by bending, or turn objects like cars or lamp posts into 360-degree VR cameras.

In order to create a wraparound camera, the team first considered attaching tiny lenses to single pixel-sized sensors, a tact that’s been tried before on curved surfaces. However, they realized that when bent, such an array would have gaps between sensors that would produce artifacts in the final image. Instead, they created flexible silicon sheets with embedded lenses that distort and change their focal lengths when bent. The resulting prototype has no blank spots, even with significant curvature, so it can capture images with no aliasing.

The team flexed the prototype sheet — with a 33×33 lens array — in a predictable way, allowing them to produce clean (though low resolution) images. However, if the amount of deformation isn’t known, the system produces random and irregular images. For instance, they created a simulated camera based on a larger, more flexible sheet that produces a hilariously distorted image (above) when when draped on an object.

However, the goal is to eventually measure the amount of deformation with built-in stress sensors, then calculate the sheet’s geometry to produce a clean image. While the current prototype is very low-res, it proves that the concept is viable, so the team plans to "develop a high resolution version of the lens array and couple it with a large format image sensor." Eventually, the sheet camera could result in sensitive large format cameras that produce very high dynamic range images. If you want to be more futuristic, the tech could even turn household objects and wearables into giant image sensors. Invisibility cloaks for all?

Via: Digital Trends

Source: Columbia University

The content below is taken from the original (AI-powered cameras make thermal imaging more accessible), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

As cool as thermal cameras may be, they’re not usually very bright — they may show you something hiding in the dark, but they won’t do much with it. FLIR wants to change that with its new Boson thermal camera module. The hardware combines a long wave infrared camera with a Movidius vision processing unit, giving the camera a dash of programmable artificial intelligence. Device makers can not only use those smarts for visual processing (like reducing noise), but some computer vision tasks as well — think object detection, depth calculations and other tasks that normally rely on external computing power.

You’ll have to wait for companies to integrate Boson before you see it in products you can buy. However, its mix of AI and compact size could bring smart thermal imaging to gadgets where it’s not normally practical, such as home security systems, drones and military gear. You may well see a surge in devices that can recognize the world around them in any lighting condition — even in total darkness.

Source: FLIR, MarketWired (Yahoo)

The content below is taken from the original (‘GPS 2.0’ outline calls for open, hackable, interfaces), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

If Google and Apple are going to provide location services, why not mash ’em up?

The group that created GPS wants it opened up so it’s easier for people to compete on its individual components.…

The content below is taken from the original (Fanless Mini-ITX SBC packs high-end Intel Skylake SoCs), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

BVM launched a “LV-67S” Mini-ITX board with Intel 6th Gen Core S-series and Xeon CPUs, with up to 32GB RAM, dual GbE, quad SATA, and five display outputs. BVM Embedded Intelligence is reselling a Commell-built “LV-67S” Mini-ITX board equipped with Intel’s 6th Gen (“Skylake”) Core S-Series and Xeon processors. The board is aimed at graphics […]

The content below is taken from the original (HPE Debuts ProLiant Easy Connect Platform for SMBs), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

The content below is taken from the original (Hitch wants to help you grow and manage your API community), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

 Hitch — not to be confused with the dating app of the same name — is a new product from the team behind API Changelog and plays in roughly the same space. It promises to offer Software-as-a-Service to help API owners manage and grow their API community, either internally or externally. Read More

The content below is taken from the original (PayPal Credit Launches in the UK With Interest-Free Options For Online Purchases), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

PayPal users will be able to use their accounts to spread out online payments instead of relying on traditional credit cards.

The content below is taken from the original (Intel launches $250 kit to build robots with Kinect-like vision), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

Intel’s depth-reading RealSense cameras can let you log into your computer thanks to Windows Hello. That’s pretty cool, but Intel wants to encourage makers to let their imaginations run wild. To help them […]

The content below is taken from the original (Black Box Corporation Enables New Classes of KVM Products with Cloudium Systems Acquisition), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

Black Box Corporation has acquired a small, privately held Irish firm, Cloudium Systems, which specializes in the development of desktop… Read more at VMblog.com.

The content below is taken from the original (Cloud-based video production platform 90 Seconds lands $7.5M Series A led by Sequoia India), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

 Despite the increasing ubiquity of online videos, making a professional-looking one is still a complicated process that usually involves chains of emails and uploads. 90 Seconds wants to fix that problem with its cloud-based platform, which lets users handle almost every part of the video production process in one place. Today, the startup announced it has raised a $7.5 million Series A led… Read More

The content below is taken from the original (Windows 10 debuts Blue QR Code of Death – and why malware will love it), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

Interesting idea but we can imagine the downside

Microsoft has added a QR code to its infamous Blue Screen of Death in Windows 10.…

The content below is taken from the original (Botlist is an app store for bots), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

 A new site launching today wants to be the app store for bots. Botlist, as it’s called, is a third-party database that’s a catalog a lot of the bots currently available across platforms, including email, web, SMS, Slack, mobile, apps, and more. There’s no question that bots are all the rage. Facebook is planning to introduce chatbots on Messenger this week; Microsoft just… Read More

The content below is taken from the original (Tagging may be the best way to make IoT contextually relevant and usable), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

 With language like this, social networks become a natural point of interaction between people and things, and TAGs will make it seem effortless for us all. This is already the way existing entities on the Internet (including Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) create relevance and context for digital elements of graphics and text; it just needs to be extended to the things in the IoT. Read More

The content below is taken from the original (Car Hacking 101: Tools of the Trade), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

The Car Hacker’s Handbook by Craig Smith is a great resource for hacking the software and embedded computer systems in cars.

Read more on MAKE

The post Car Hacking 101: Tools of the Trade appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.

The content below is taken from the original (Doom and Doom II are now playable on the Oculus Rift), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

Doom and Doom II are two of the most-loved first-person shooters of all time. The games are classics that have withstood the test of time. As great as the games are in their original forms, it’s […]

The content below is taken from the original (6 insights into the French SaaS landscape), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

 As a Berlin-based VC firm focused on SaaS, we often get questions about the current state of the European cloud software landscape. To be able to answer these questions more precisely we decided to analyze each major European ecosystem, starting with France. Our goal was to find all the relevant players in the French cloud ecosystem — from early-stage startups to large public companies. Read More

The content below is taken from the original (Call Sweden’s national number and talk to a random Swede now), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

The news almost reads like an Onion headline: Sweden, the country, has got its very own telephone number. And you can call it anytime you like to chat with a random Swede about, well, anything really. The quirky announcement is the work of the Swedish Tourist Association, which has created the number as a 250th anniversary tribute to the country’s abolishment of censorship. It’s an initiative designed to highlight the country’s commitment to freedom of expression in a time when, according to the tourism board’s CEO Magnus Ling, "many countries try to limit communication between people." But before you open the dialer on your cellphone, be aware that the call is not toll-free and you will be charged local and international rates.

In the spirit of ‘why not?’ (and because I have some Google Voice credits to burn), I called the number hoping to engage a Swede in some discussion about Weezer’s new album. The results were disappointing. On my first attempt, I was connected to a Swedish man who rambled a bunch of very polite sounding Swedish noises into my ear. I asked if he spoke English, but then the line soon went dead. So I tried calling again. The second time, I had to wait a bit as a recorded message informed me that "a lot of people are calling Sweden right now." Obviously. When I did manage to get through to another Swede, the call quality crapped out, prompting a handful of broken "hellos" back and forth and not much else.

I never did find out what Sweden thinks of Weezer’s White album… if they think it’s as good as Pinkerton. But maybe one of you intrepid folks can spare the change and bridge that social divide.

Source: The Swedish Number

The content below is taken from the original (Platoons of autonomous trucks took a road trip across Europe), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

Six vehicle manufacturers just proved that self-driving trucks are perfectly capable of driving across a whole continent. These companies, including Volvo and Daimler, participated in the European Truck Platooning challenge organized by the Dutch government. "Truck platooning" is the term used when a fleet of autonomous trucks closely follow one another on the road. Since the rigs behind the first ride in its slipstream, they tend to use less fuel and emit less carbon dioxide.

The self-driving rigs started their journey from different parts of Europe and ended in the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Quartz notes that if this accomplishment convinces various government in the continent, then a number of corporations like Unilever will begin using autonomous trucks to pick up cargo from the port to distribute across Europe. If you keep an eye out for autonomous vehicle news, you might have already seen the video of Daimler testing its vehicle on public roads. But if you want to see more self-driving trucks on a road trip, you can watch a coverage of challenge below:

Via: Quartz

Source: European Truck Platooning Challenge

The content below is taken from the original (The ‘Smarter’, Software-Defined Data Center), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

The content below is taken from the original (AirMap raises $15M Series A round to develop its airspace management system for drones), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

 AirMap, a startup that provides drone operators with airspace information to let them know when and where they can fly, today announced that it has raised a $15 million Series A funding round. The round was led by General Catalyst Partners, with Lux Capital (which led the company’s $2.6 million seed round), Social Capital, TenOneTen Ventures, Bullpen Capital and the Pritzker Group… Read More

The content below is taken from the original (Android Studio 2.0), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

The content below is taken from the original (HP’s Spectre 13.3 laptop is as thin as a AAA battery), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

HP newest laptop, the Spectre 13.3, isn’t like anything else in the company’s lineup. In contrast to the company’s candy-colored Chromebooks and plain silver notebooks, the Spectre was inspired by jewelry and women’s purses. In fact, HP chose to unveil it not at CES or any other tech conference but at a luxury conference in Versailles. And, at 10.4mm thin, the Spectre is about as thick as a AAA battery, making it not just the skinniest PC in HP’s portfolio but the slimmest notebook on the entire market. Think of it as HP’s answer to Apple’s 12-inch MacBook, except with a bigger screen, extra horsepower and a little more bling.

It looks striking in photos and even more so in person. Yes, it is is very, very thin, and though it’s not technically the lightest, at 2.45 pounds, it is still extremely easy to hold. The combination of metal and carbon fiber helps the machine feel at once compact and well-made. With this system, HP went with the same brownish "Ash Silver" shade that it experimented with on some high-end, special-edition machines. A company rep told me that although the tapered copper accents are indeed inspired by jewelry and even women’s clutches, the main color was meant to be more gender neutral than, say, rose gold. As a woman, I’d say that’s a safe assessment, but far be it for me to say this is manly enough for our most macho readers.

Continuing our tour, a piston-style hinge (as shown in the gif below) inspired by upscale cabinetry allows the 13.3-inch Gorilla Glass screen to almost float above the keyboard. (The skinny bezels also add to the effect.) As you’d expect, HP had to go with a non-touch screen to keep the machine’s thickness down. That said, it offers brighter colors than some other non-touch panels, thanks in part to an optical-bonding manufacturing process that enables the display to be very thin. I do suspect that some shoppers will be disappointed by the middling 1080p resolution, though a higher pixel count would have made the battery life situation even more challenging.

As on other super skinny laptops, the keys are fairly shallow, but they’re springier than I would have expected. In my few minutes of hands-on time last week, I had to train myself not to mash the buttons the way I would on a flatter, more lifeless keyboard. It’ll be interesting to see what the learning curve is over a typical weeklong review period: Can I trust the keyboard enough to type at a more gentle cadence? The glass trackpad also worked well in my initial demo. I did not experience the Bang & Olufsen speakers, though a company rep was quick to manage expectations: Though the sound is said to be balanced, even HP warns the volume doesn’t get particularly loud.

Slight flashiness aside, what makes the Spectre 13.3 different from rivals such as the MacBook is that HP didn’t need to use Intel’s lower-powered Core M chips to achieve such a thin design. Instead, the Spectre is powered by your choice of sixth-gen Core i5 or i7 processors, helped by up to 8GB of RAM and PCIe solid-state drives with up to 512 gigs of storage. It also brings more ports than you might expect: three USB Type-C connections, two of which support Thunderbolt.

Despite that skinny build, too, the notebook is rated for a healthy nine and a half hours of runtime. That’s thanks to a unique four-cell design, wherein the battery is split into smaller, thinner pieces that make better use of the available space.

The Spectre 13.3 goes up for pre-order on April 25th for $1,170 and up. It will be available in Best Buy stores the following month, on May 22nd, with configurations there starting at $1,250. HP will also make a handful of special-edition models fashioned out of lavish materials like 18-karat gold and Swarovski crystals, but realistically, you shouldn’t expect to see those anywhere other than in the press images below.

The content below is taken from the original (Gravit Is a Free Browser-Based Alternative to Adobe Illustrator or Fireworks), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

Need to create a logo, website mockup, or any kind of digital illustration? You don’t need to buy or download software to do so. Gravit is a robust illustration tool that works in your browser.

Read more…

The content below is taken from the original (NVIDIA announces a supercomputer aimed at deep learning and AI), to continue reading please visit the site. Remember to respect the Author & Copyright.

 The sophisticated neural networks underlying systems like Google’s Deep Dream and all manner of interesting experiments require a great deal of computing power. NVIDIA proposes to put all that horsepower in a single box, specially engineered to meet the needs of AI researchers. Read More