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ICYMI: Printing in 4D, solar panel breakthrough and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-509705{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-509705, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-509705{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-509705").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Scientists at Harvard have figured out how to print incredibly small, shape-shifting creations out of hydrogel that can then morph from 3D to 4D depending on water or heat is applied to them. Scientists figured out how to grow a material that could make solar panels cheaper. And a new jacket on Indiegogo captures heat from UV light then stores it in a steel mesh center to warm you up. If you need to catch up on big stories from the week, we recommend starting with Google's donations. And as always, please share any interesting science or tech videos, anytime! Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag to @mskerryd.
Mantises get tiny 3D glasses to test depth perception
The praying mantis is the only known invertebrate with 3D perception, however this fact was originally proven in the 1980s using prisms and occluders, which only support a limited number of images. Scientists want to deepen their understanding of the insect, so they've taken this research a step further by testing a few mantises with tiny 3D glasses. A team from Newcastle University created a miniature cinema in the hope that the insects would move when they perceived 3D images with the appropriate lenses. The trick worked, but only with a specific kind of spectacles.
Vuze camera shoots 3D VR video for under $1,000
You can already get affordable virtual reality cameras, and low-cost 3D cameras have existed for years. However, getting both in one package is another matter -- it's entirely possible to pay a five-digit price if you're not careful. That's where HumanEyes' new Vuze camera (no, not that Vuze) just might save the day. The UFO-like rig combines eight cameras to capture 3D VR footage for less than $1,000, or low enough that you can get one solely to make amateur Google Cardboard videos. It promises to be headache-free, too, between a new seamless image stitching technique and quick, near real-time processing.
'Terminator 2' is returning to theaters in 3D
Let's be honest: no matter how many times studios try to revive the Terminator franchise, its peak is (and possibly always will be) Terminator 2: Judgment Day. And James Cameron knows this too, it seems. The director is teaming with DMG Entertainment and Studiocanal to release a digitally remastered 3D version of Terminator 2 in summer 2016. It's a bid to cash in on the movie's 25th anniversary, as you might have guessed, but it's also about bringing Ahnold's blockbuster to audiences that might never have had a chance to watch on a big screen. China never got the original run, for example.
Cat gets cutting-edge prosthetic legs
Say hello to Vincent the cat. Due to a congenital defect, Vincent was born without rear tibias and likely would have died had he not been rescued and surrendered to an Iowa animal shelter. Once adopted, he caught the attention of Dr. Mary Sarah Bergh, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Iowa State University's Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center. She worked with 3D printing firm Biomedtrix to create a custom pair of extruded titanium peg legs for the feline, enabling him to walk for the first time.
The After Math: With great power
Well, this week as been rather terrible. With all the death and mayhem both at home and abroad, it's enough to make anyone feel rather helpless. It's times like these that we have to force ourselves to remember there is still a great deal of good left in the world. From life-saving medical advancements and clean energy promises to superior image scanners and kick-assier video games, this week's selection shows that humanity isn't all bad (just mostly).
Super-sharp 3D cameras may come to your smartphone
Many 3D cameras and scanners produce rough images, especially as they get smaller and cheaper. You often need a big laser scanner just to get reasonably accurate results. If MIT researchers have their way, though, even your smartphone could capture 3D images you'd be proud of. They've developed a technique that uses polarized light (like what you see in sunglasses) to increase the resolution of 3D imaging by up to 1,000 times. Their approach combines Microsoft's Kinect (or a similar depth camera), a polarized camera lens and algorithms to create images based on the light intensity from multiple shots. The result is an imager that spots details just hundreds of micrometers across -- you'd be hard-pressed to notice any imperfections.
App turns your writing into trippy 3D images
It's easy to imagine a piece of art in your head, but making it real is another matter if you're not an artist. Wouldn't it be nice if you could simply describe what you wanted? WordsEye is trying just that. Its beta web app lets you describe a scene using natural-language text, and uses statistical parsing to translate that into a 3D image. You can name objects and their qualities using terms that are as fuzzy or exacting as you like, including relative concepts like position. It's easy to use, although the results can be more than a little surreal -- just look at the pictured rat on a cat on a Christmas cow if you need proof.
Volkswagen is issuing AR glasses as standard factory equipment
Following a successful 3-month pilot program at its Wolfsburg plant, Volkswagen announced on Tuesday that it will begin issuing 3D smart glasses to its plant logistics personnel. These glasses, which display information like bin locations and part numbers directly in the user's line of sight, should help speed up order picking. That is, they'll tell plant employees if the parts they're holding are the parts they actually need. And to keep the process as hands-free as possible, a camera embedded in the specs will double as a barcode scanner.
The humble beginnings and ambitious future of 3D printing
Consumer-focused 3D printing has been all the rage in the past several years, and while Yeezy may be apprehensive, it's putting the power of manufacturing into the hands of the people. The concept of three-dimensional reproduction isn't as new as you may think; various methods were being employed as early as the 1800s. From the 1950s until the early aughts, it's primarily been used in experimental or industrial applications due to the high costs involved. But when the RepRap project went open-source and MakerBot targeted the consumer market with more affordable machines, things began to change. This week we take a quick look at some milestones in 3D printing's development and see how it's progressing in the modern age.
The Future of 3D Printing - We're Not in Kansas Anymore
The concept of widely accessible 3D printing has, up until recently, been reserved for sci-fi movies and companies with extensive budgets. However, in the past few years there have been hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in 3D printing companies around the world, demonstrating the shift in technology from a futuristic concept to an everyday reality right at our fingertips.As with most new technologies, the earliest editions are rarely the final versions that end up in the hands of businesses or actual people. Each iteration of the technology is updated to improve the performance and output, a trend that 3D printing has also followed. Many editions of 3D printers in use today operate with single-color plastic spools to create printed objects that many associate with the term "3D printing." However, just as television sets started out in black and white before the transition to color, the demand for photorealistic-color 3D printed objects is pushing the monochrome 3D printers to the back of the closet. Not only do full-color 3D printers already exist, but they could be in your offices and schools right now, and even in homes within the next few years. Just as Dorothy noted when she and Toto arrived in Oz, we've moved beyond the black and white Kansas into a world full of color, and there is no turning back now.Why is full-color such an important feature?Think about it – we as humans have evolved seeing in color and use our color vision to discern details. We associate color with a variety of things, such as brands, memories, specific individuals and more. From a tactical standpoint, full-color 3D printed objects provide a much wider variety of use cases than objects that are just one solid color throughout or blocks of only a few solid colors.Education is a great example of the benefits of 3D printing. There are applications for 3D printing across every academic department, from fine and dramatic arts, mathematics and geography, to sociology, anthropology, medicine and engineering. When applied to art, full-color 3D printing allows students to combine their creativity with technology in a tangible way to produce amazing creations and realize their creative vision. The possibilities range from sculpture and jewelry creation to architecture projects that bring designs to life. When it comes to a medical education application, photorealistic color 3D printing can take a 2D X-ray or CT scan and give it a third dimension, allowing doctors and their attendants to practice on the realistic models of the patient's anatomy, using color to represent medical conditions before the actual operation in the operating room. This in turn reduces time in surgery and improves patient outcomes.Another example of the benefits of full-color 3D printing is in the development of a company's or product's brand identity. We all know the importance of color for brands – for example, white and green versus orange and pink most likely reminds you of Starbucks versus Dunkin' Donuts. A full-color 3D printer helps communication and advertising firms give physical 3D shape to an otherwise two-dimensional idea, creating better understanding among their clients and resulting in faster approvals.For example, clients can see proposed logo and color ideas on exact replicas of their product or packaging, providing a more effective representation of the final campaign than a 2D sketch or image can provide.But what about people who are thinking of purchasing a 3D printer?You know your typical 2D printer sitting on your desk has an extremely high level of color capability. Why then would people accept monochrome 3D printed objects when they're used to printing from the full color spectrum? The answer is simple – for 3D printers to become a common household object, one of the capabilities they'll need is to be able to 3D print in photorealistic color to satisfy demand.The reality is that pervasive day-to-day 3D printing in your home isn't as far away as many may think. When it comes time to purchase a 3D printer for your school, office or home, make sure it can achieve the results you need – including producing full, photorealistic-color objects.
Microsoft buys 3D physics developer Havok to boost gaming efforts
Microsoft today announced the acquisition of Havok from Intel. Havok makes a 3D physics engine and licenses it to gaming studios; its work has been featured on more than 600 titles, including popular franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Destiny, Dark Souls, The Elder Scrolls and Microsoft's own Halo. While Microsoft says it is delighted to add Havok's technologies to its robust portfolio of tools and components for developers, like DirectX 12 and Azure, it did point out that it won't stop supporting partners going forward. "We will continue to license Havok's technology to the broad AAA games industry," Microsoft said in a statement to IGN. "This also means that we will continue to license Havok's technology to run across various game consoles including Sony and Nintendo."
Kraftwerk takes techno pop into the third dimension
Not to be undone by bands that release artwork via fax machine or by albums released in sheet music form, German electronic mainstay Kraftwerk's next record will be available in a 3D format. It's a fairly unusual approach to making music as you can't really hear 3D (unless you experience synesthesia). This latest collection of tracks will be released on Blu-ray in autumn. Ralf Hutter, the only remaining original member, told Rolling Stone that it will consist of 3D performances with surround sound.
MIT's newest 3D printer spouts 10 materials at a time
One of the biggest hindrances to current 3D printers is that they almost exclusively stick to a single precursor be it plastic, metal or glass. At most, you can get one that extrudes three materials at a time and they're going set you back a quarter of a million dollars. However, a team of researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have debuted a novel solution that allows users to create more complex items in a fraction of the time and cost by printing up to ten different materials simultaneously.
YouTube has a new mobile app now, 3D VR video coming soon
During a keynote speech tonight at the 6th annual Vidcon event, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced a new version of its mobile app. Available on Android and mobile web browsers now (iOS coming soon), it makes it easier for creators to publish and edit directly in the app, and easier for viewers to subscribe to a channel with just one button touch (and with ten million of those touches, channel owners can earn the new Diamond play button reward). The redesign even puts your subscriptions and profile right at the top for easy access. This is also the version that adds the ability to watch those vertical videos in full screen, so expect that to come your way soon if you don't have it already. Update: An update to the iOS app is out that brings fullscreen vertical video support to your iPhone too.
ICYMI: 3D-printed art, a Pac-Man satellite and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The giant robot duel challenge response is in from a Japanese mecha-manufacturer (aimed at some lippy Americans with a super paintball gun) and it's throwing hella shade y'all. Switzerland's EPFL space agency realized its old cubesats were cluttering up space so it came up with a hungry hippo of a satellite that should start gobbling up its smaller kin by 2018. And an architect hacked a 3D printer with LEDs and is creating beautiful paintings with light.
HP's 'blended reality' Sprout desktop just got better at 3D capture
Back when HP first introduced Sprout, an ambitious all-in-one desktop, the company came up with lots of reasons why you might want such an unusual PC -- one with an overheard projector/camera, and a touch mat that could act as a second screen. Among the various use cases -- gaming, visual projects, teleconferencing -- 3D modeling was one of the more obvious scenarios. Imagine: Just put an object in front of the depth-sensing camera, and boom, the computer creates a 360-degree, 3D model that you can view and manipulate onscreen. Unfortunately, the process was far from user-friendly and indeed, HP said at launch that it was working on an app that would make the workflow easier. Fast forward eight months, and the company is ready to show us some improvements. HP just unveiled the software, called 3D Capture, as well as an optional $299 "stage" accessory that should make 360-degree capture easier in the first place.
Your next plastic gun won't make it past metal detectors
Conventional metal detectors -- like those employed nearly universally to courthouses and (sigh) schools -- are useless against 3D-printed plastic guns. And in light of how comically inept the TSA is, these homebrew weapons pose a real and significant security concern to airports as well. Which is why Congress is once again gearing up to pass legislation making the weapons easier to trace.
Oculus VR figures out how avatars can mimic your facial expressions
Imagine a VR game where your avatar can laugh, smile or frown as you do while interacting with other players -- sounds fun, right? Well apparently, that kind of face-tracking tech already exists. Facebook's Oculus division has teamed up with University of Southern California researchers to develop a way to track your facial expressions while wearing a chunky VR headset. What they did was insert strain gauges within the the Rift's foam padding to monitor the movements of the upper part of your face. To monitor the lower part not covered by the headset, they attached a 3D camera to a short boom clipped to the center of the Rift. As you can see in the video below the fold, a virtual avatar successfully mimicked the expressions of their testers with that setup.
Arms control and free speech go to court over 3D-printed guns
Cody Wilson fundamentally altered the way we produce and distribute firearms in 2013 when his company, Defense Distributed (DD), first published the plans for a 3D-printed pistol, dubbed The Liberator, on its website. The State Department didn't take too kindly to this revelation and sent DD a letter demanding the instructions be removed as they violated a number of US Arms Export control laws. Now, two years later, Defense Distributed and the State Department are going to court over the matter in a lawsuit that potentially holds far-reaching implications for both the First and Second Amendments.
