Technology

Facebook’s AI-created virtual memories are magically haunting

Published

6 years ago

May 2, 2018

Ever since Facebook bought Oculus, it’s been investing in virtual reality in a big way. Beyond just hardware like the Rift and the Go, it’s also putting a lot of money and research into software. It delved into the realm of social last year with Oculus Rooms and Facebook Spaces, but that’s not where Facebook’s VR ambitions stop. At F8, the company unveiled a new way for users to experience VR: by recreating their memories.

At the F8 keynote this week, head of social VR Rachel Franklin showed off an experimental feature where Facebook’s machine learning algorithms could convert a 2D photo or video into a virtual three-dimensional environment through point cloud reconstruction. According to Facebook, the tech uses “photogrammetry” to create 3D space from flat photos or videos. This means that you could conceivably transform a photo of your 10th birthday party into a virtual recreation of your childhood living room.

I sat through a demo of this feature at F8, and it felt a lot like being in a dream. Thanks in part to the point cloud reconstruction mentioned earlier, the virtual room that I was in was not lifelike in the slightest. Instead, it was as if I stepped into a world of pointillistic art, which lent the environment an ethereal, magical quality. When I wave my cursor hand around, the dots that make up the room shift and moves, emphasizing the unreal nature of the world around me.

Scattered throughout the place — which seems to be a recreation of a real Oakland home — were cut-out squares floating in the air. When I hovered over them with a cursor, I saw thumbnails of photos and videos, all of which were supposedly taken in the room that I was in. When I clicked on the thumbnails, I teleported over to them so that I could see the photos and videos up close. One was a photo of a family, while another was a short video clip of a young couple getting ready for prom.

The next environment I was in was yet another living room, and this time all of the photos and videos were taken during a birthday party. The thumbnail near the couch revealed a posed photo of the family, while the one by the dinner table showed the cake. In the very last demo, I was transported over to a pointillist version of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. This time, the photos taken at the landmark were lined up in a path surrounding the lake.

Facebook told me that this pointillism effect is used to help fill in the gaps, and to “create a sense of presence in the space.” But more than that, the fuzzy nature of the environment also evokes a sense of memory. After all, most people don’t dream in HD. Instead, dreams and memories are misty and hazy, and a pointillistic world where objects are blurry and ill-defined contributes to that feeling immensely. Peppering that environment with real-life photos can feel pretty surreal as well, like you’re hopping in and out of reality. I sometimes felt like I was going through forgotten memories like in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

According to Facebook, the demo I experienced is just a prototype, and it has no plans to share specific implementations. In the future, the company hopes to help people share moments in “new and rich ways.” “We think in the future, people may be able to use technology like this to revisit moments and places that are important to them, with people they care about,” said a Facebook spokesperson in a statement.

In short, think of this as a Facebook album come to life. I can imagine a future where instead of forcing your relatives to sit through a boring vacation slideshow on the TV, you’ll be strapping them to headsets so that they can relive your trip to Italy with you. They still might not appreciate it, but at least it won’t be quite as boring.

News

The Russian military admits the satellite was “destroyed” during the test, confirming US allegations

Published

2 years ago

November 16, 2021

John Wick

Moscow

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday admitted that it had destroyed a satellite during an arrow test, confirming allegations made by the United States earlier.

“The Russian Ministry of Defense has carried out a successful inspection. Which resulted in the collapse of the Russian spacecraft ‘Tselina-D’. Which had been circling since 1982, was destroyed,” the military said in a statement.

U.S. officials on Monday criticized Russia for testing “dangerous and careless” missiles that exploded on its satellite. Hence creating a cloud of debris threatening the International Space Station.

NASA said crew members aboard the ISS – currently four Americans, Germans and two Russians – were awakened and forced to take refuge on their return ships.

U.S. officials say they were not notified in advance of a satellite missile test. Which is the fourth such strike from space – that produced more than 1,500 pieces of traceable debris.

The Russian military said it was planning to strengthen its defensive capabilities but denied that the tests were dangerous.

“The United States is well aware that the resulting fragments, in terms of testing time and orbital boundaries. They have also not posed a threat to orbital stations, spacecraft and space missions,” he said.

The confirmation of the US claims came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed them.

“To declare that the Russian Federation poses a threat to the peaceful use of the land, at least, is hypocritical,” Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow, adding “there are no facts” about the allegations.

Technology

XIAOMI REDMI 7 PRO SPECIFICATIONS

Published

5 years ago

January 10, 2019

Team Webinfoera

Power of Xiaomi

Display and Configuration

The Xiaomi Redmi 7 Pro flaunts with a 5.84-inch IPS LCD display with the resolution of 1,080 x 2,280 pixels. The high pixel density of 432PPI can give users an eye-soothing experience.

Under the hood, it packs an octa-core processor having a clock speed of 2.2GHz and is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 MSM8956 chipset. The 3GB RAM helps the users to easily switch between tasks and for the graphics, there is an Adreno 512 GPU.

Storage and Camera

The Xiaomi Redmi 7 Pro comes with an inbuilt memory of 32GB which is large for keeping files and data of the users. It also has an expandable memory option which can be used up to 256GB via a microSD card.

In terms of optics, the device sports a dual set of primary cameras of 12MP + 5MP with autofocus and LED flash, which helps to capture bright and detailed pictures. The secondary camera is of 8MP that can capture clear and bright selfies.

Battery and Connectivity

The device draws the charge from a 3,000mAh Li-ion battery which can give an ample amount of back up to continue the phone operation. The phone has multiple connectivity options including 4G-VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Mobile Hotspot, GPS, Glonass, micro USB 2.0 and many more.

XIAOMI REDMI 7 PRO SPECIFICATIONS

General

Launch Date		January 31, 2019 (Unofficial)
Brand		Xiaomi
Model		Redmi 7 Pro
Operating System		Android v9.0 (Pie)
Custom UI		MIUI
SIM Slot(s)		Dual SIM, GSM+GSM
SIM Size		SIM1: Nano SIM2: Nano
Network		4G: Available (supports Indian bands) 3G: Available, 2G: Available
Fingerprint Sensor

Design

Height		147.7 mm Compare Size
Width		71.8 mm
Thickness		7.8 mm
Weight		150 grams
Colors		Black

Display

Screen Size		5.84 inches (14.83 cm)
Screen Resolution		1080 x 2280 pixels
Bezel-less display
Pixel Density		432 ppi
Display Type		IPS LCD
Touch Screen		Capacitive Touchscreen, Multi-touch
Screen to Body Ratio (calculated)		79.87 %

Performance

Chipset		Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 MSM8956
Processor		Octa-core (2.2 GHz, Quad core, Kryo 260 + 1.84 GHz, Quad core, Kryo 260)
Architecture		64 bit
Graphics		Adreno 512
RAM		3 GB

Storage

Internal Memory		32 GB
Expandable Memory		Up to 256 GB

Camera

MAIN CAMERA
Resolution		12 MP + 5 MP Dual Primary Cameras
Autofocus
Flash		LED Flash
Image Resolution		4000 x 3000 Pixels
Shooting Modes		Continuous Shooting, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)
Camera Features		Digital Zoom, Auto Flash, Face detection, Touch to focus
FRONT CAMERA
Resolution		8 MP Front Camera

Battery

Capacity		3000 mAh
Type		Li-ion
User Replaceable		No

Network & Connectivity

SIM Size		SIM1: Nano, SIM2: Nano
Network Support		4G (supports Indian bands), 3G, 2G
VoLTE
SIM 1		4G Bands: TD-LTE 2300(band 40) FD-LTE 1800(band 3) 3G Bands: UMTS 1900 / 2100 / 850 / 900 MHz 2G Bands: GSM 1800 / 1900 / 850 / 900 MHz GPRS: Available EDGE: Available
SIM 2		4G Bands: TD-LTE 2300(band 40) FD-LTE 1800(band 3) 3G Bands: UMTS 1900 / 2100 / 850 / 900 MHz 2G Bands: GSM 1800 / 1900 / 850 / 900 MHz GPRS: Available EDGE: Available
Wi-Fi		Wi-Fi 802.11, b/g/n
Wi-Fi Features		Mobile Hotspot
Bluetooth		v4.2
GPS		with A-GPS, Glonass
USB Connectivity		A mass storage device, USB charging, microUSB 2.0

Multimedia

Loudspeaker
Audio Jack		3.5 mm

Special Features

Fingerprint Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor Position		Rear
Other Sensors		Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer

Technology

Upcoming 5G mobile phones in India: Here are all 5G-ready smartphones expected to launch in 2019

Published

5 years ago

January 10, 2019

Team Webinfoera

5G mobile or the fifth generation of network technology has been in testing for the past few years. It looks like 2019 will finally see smartphone manufacturers launch devices that can hook up to ultra-fast 5G networks. 5G is expected to bring lower latency to networks which means online gaming, for one, will become much more faster. Streaming will become a breeze and connectivity, in general, will improve dramatically. 5G phones are expected to support super speeds of up to 10 Gbps and the network is touted to be 100 times faster than 4G. So naturally, 5G smartphones are all the rage right now and a race of sorts has emerged in the smartphone industry as to who will launch the first 5G-ready device in the market. Throughout 2018, we’ve been hearing from smartphone OEMs about their plans to launch 5G devices. Here, we compile that list of upcoming 5G smartphones, ones that you can also expect to land in India. Take a look.

OnePlus

OnePlus announced its plans to launch a 5G-ready smartphone in 2019. The reiterated the same multiple times throughout this year. The industry was expecting the OnePlus 7 to become the first 5G-ready smartphone. The OEM but looks like the company has special plans for the said smartphone. A spokesperson from the company recently said that 5G will mark the beginning of a new line-up of smartphones from OnePlus. It is expected that OnePlus will launch its 5G phone sometime in the first half of 2019, which could mean that the company will showcase the phone or a prototype at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. One major shift we expect from OnePlus’ stable is that of pricing.

Huawei

Huawei is one of the biggest proponents of 5G technology. The company has been perhaps the biggest names when it comes to the development of 5G network equipment and chips, with hundreds of engineers dedicated to the efforts. Huawei is working on commercializing its first 5G smartphone and word has it that the company plans on making it available to the public in the first half of 2019. Speculation circulating the internet suggest the smartphone could be the Huawei Mate 30. A 5G mobile hotspot device is expected to launch in Q2 of 2019. Huawei has also conducted 5G trials in India, in partnership with Airtel. Huawei and Bharti Airtel successfully conducted 5G network trials under a test set-up in India. The 5G trial was conducted at Airtel’s Network Experience Centre in Manesar (Gurugram). During the test trial, a user throughput of more than 3Gbps was achieved.

Nokia

In February, Qualcomm announced that it has partnered with 18 OEMs, including HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, to launch the 5G-ready smartphone in 2019. The 5G smartphone from Nokia will be running on the Qualcomm’s X50 5G modem. We don’t know much about which Nokia phone will get 5G support first, but we do know that Nokia is testing the technology internally.

Vivo

Vivo also recently fitted the Qualcomm X50 modem in the Nex S smartphone. According to Vivo. the test completed the first phase of the protocol. The company now needs to develop an actual 5G phone and it says its goal is to launch the first batch of commercial 5G devices by 2019. According to the company, China Mobile and Qualcomm have been key partners in the 5G rollout so China could be the first country to get 5G smartphones. But given the China trickle-down effect, we expect the 5G smartphone to come to India as well. The question is, will India be ready to deploy 5G networks by 2019?

Oppo

Vivo’s sister company Oppo also completed 5G tests using the Qualcomm X50 modem on a modified unit of the Oppo R15 smartphone. Oppo also reportedly plans a 5G smartphone release by 2019.

HTC

HTC is not done with the smartphone business just yet. Even though the company has considerably reduced staff, according to its Senior RF designer Kevin Duo. HTC is also sampling the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and the Snapdragon X50 5G-ready modem. This means that the company could be looking to launch a 5G smartphone as well next year.

Lenovo and Moto

The executive has claimed on the Chinese micro-blogging website. Weibo that the world’s first 5G phone will be from the house of Lenovo and it will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset. In fact, Moto’s 5G Moto Mod with the built-in Snapdragon X50 5G modem has already been successfully tested. However, we highly doubt that the two companies will be first to bring the tech to market.

Samsung Galaxy S10

One of the hottest and most talked about smartphone right now. It is the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S10 and there is talk that the device will get a special 5G variant in 2019.