1. One thing that helps
Video content is king! But do you need a little help with your presentation skills? If you find yourself sneaking a look at your notes and looking away from the camera, NVIDIA has the (slightly freaky) solution for you. It’s called Eye Contact and with it you’ll always be looking straight down the lens.
The effect estimates and aligns your gaze so you appear to be looking directly at the camera while reading your notes or script. Not only that, your eye colour and blinks are simulated to be as natural as possible. If you actually want to look away, there is a smooth transition between the simulated eyes and the real eyes.
Simulated eye contact allows content creators, instructors and video presenters to maintain audience engagement and produce more professional looking videos. I might try this on the next video edition of 3 Things Direct from the Future! Remember people, use this for good, not evil. Don’t be sneaking a look at your phone on your next boring video call!
2. One to be wary of
Wi-Fi is everywhere now. We’ve talked about how we can use Wi-Fi as an energy source back in edition 41 – but it seems that we can do much more. Apparently, we can use Wi-Fi to detect the presence of people and show the pose and position of their bodies. Even through walls!
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University used three ordinary Wi-Fi routers and AI to detect the presence of people along with their full-body image. Since Wi-Fi can pass through walls, this technique can be a reliable way of monitoring a particular location. This could easily be a help topic but as always, the problems begin when tech like this goes mainstream. We can catch thieves using this tech, but thieves can also catch us off guard with the same. Certainly, I wouldn’t like my neighbour knowing where I am in my house nor the “pose” that I’m currently in.
For now, Wi-Fi perception technology is just a proof-of-concept. But I’ll be stocking up on jamming devices just to be safe.
3. One to amaze
“My mirror is so boring – it just reflects what is actually there” – I know you’ve said this everyday! A group from Black University of Rhode Island has come up with an idea to turn this ordinary activity into something more interesting. They’ve turned mirrors into your virtual closet!
This augmented-reality mirror called Muse uses advanced camera technology similar to Instagram’s filters. It also employs machine learning to observe your hair and skin for better product recommendations. With this mirror, you can try products featured in certain skin-care tutorials to see how you would look in them. For example, if you’re shopping for makeup, you can use the mirror to see how you’d look with that makeup. If you’re satisfied, it’s just one tap to purchase. You can also watch videos and listen to music while spending your time in front of the mirror – just in case it has been more than 5 seconds since you had a screen in front of you. Wouldn’t want any quiet time to intrude on my kids’ consumption of YouTube shorts. 🙂
This AR mirror is actually very cool and is out in the market already. If you spend a lot of time in front of the mirror maybe this is for you. Hopefully, it can expand its functions to include trying on clothes. Then, it’ll no longer be just a virtual mirror but an on-demand stylist too.