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Museum teams up with Samsung to render mummies in 3D (video)
Thanks to more advanced medical CT scanners, we can now look at what's inside the British Museum's mummies... even if they remain wrapped. The museum has partnered with Samsung to provide 3D visuals for eight mummies of people who lived in the Nile Valley as far back as 4,000 years ago created using high-res CT scans. These visuals (some of them even interactive) show you what lies underneath all those mummified layers, from accessories and hairstyles that indicate their status in life, to the state of their health when they passed away. For instance, you'll see that a man of high status was buried with gold leaves and facial features painted on his wrappings, while a lowly temple doorkeeper had his severed head roughly reattached with wooden poles. The exhibit's already live for anyone interested in (digitally) peeling layers off the ancient remains, and it'll be around until November 30th this year.
Glasses-free 3D projector offers a cheap alternative to holograms
Holograms are undoubtedly spiffy-looking, but they're not exactly cheap; even a basic holographic projector made from off-the-shelf parts can cost thousands of dollars. MIT researchers may have a budget-friendly alternative in the future, though. They've built a glasses-free 3D projector that uses two liquid crystal modulators to angle outgoing light and present different images (eight in the prototype) depending on your point of view. And unlike some 3D systems, the picture should remain relatively vivid -- the technology uses a graphics card's computational power to preserve as much of an image's original information (and therefore its brightness) as possible.
Flying drone can '3D print' with foam, help carry away hazardous objects
Flying drones with 3D printers attached to their body: it was only a matter of time until the two technologies met. Such a thing now exists, although we're not quite sure it's earned its printing qualification yet. Developed by a team at the Imperial College London, the "3D printing Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV)" is a quad-copter that carries two chemicals that create polyurethane foam when mixed. Scientists say the foam can be molded to create non-complex structures or repair components, making the drone especially useful in hard-to-reach areas. The substance is also extremely sticky, which allows teams of drones to work together to remove dangerous objects from hazardous locations. Like the video below shows, the quad-copter can swoop in and "print" a layer of sticky foam, which will then stick to the underside of a bigger and more powerful drone so it can be transported away. Scientists drew inspiration from nature when developing the MAV, mostly notably the the swiftlet. The swiftlet is a small bird that builds nests entirely from threads of their saliva. Right now, the drone can only fly in controlled environments using sensors that feed real-time information back to a laptop. The next step will see the team equip the quad-copter with high-speed cameras, sensors and even solar panels, allowing it to fly autonomously and charge itself in any environment.
Praying mantises get extra-tiny 3D glasses to test their vision
While 3D video may not be very popular these days, someone's still wearing 3D glasses -- or rather, something. Newcastle University scientists are outfitting praying mantises with very small 3D eyewear to test their depth perception, which is unique in the insect world; most species are limited to 2D. The researchers want to see if the bugs are fooled by the effects of a 3D movie like that you'd see in a theater. If they are, we'll know that they evolved 3D vision similar to that of humans and monkeys.
Tilting Amazon's phone could be the most important thing you do with it
Amazon's got at least one smartphone up its sleeves, and we know it's going to feature some curious 3D effects thanks to a slew of sensors and a quartet of front-facing cameras. That's not all she wrote, though: previous reports alleged that users could tilt their Amazon phones to and fro to interact with apps, and BGR claims to have more dirt on how that feature works. If true, tilting an Amazon phone could be one of most important things you could do to it.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: human diamonds, floating farm and a 13-year-old nuclear fusioneer
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Ever wish you could take a bite out of Kanye West? A new (possibly satirical) startup is taking meat alternatives to an absurd new level, with plans to make salami from animal meat and human tissue from celebrities. No word yet on what Kanye thinks of the venture. In other weird science news, a Swiss company says it is creating diamonds from cremated human remains. The company claims that its so-called memorial diamonds are almost indistinguishable from a typical diamond.
XBMC looks to improve Android video playback with 'Gotham' beta
Version 13 of XBMC's media center software, codenamed Gotham, is now ready for your official beta-testing pleasure. The foundation -- which started the project for the Xbox and spawned apps like Plex and platforms like Boxee -- kicked off work on the update nearly a year ago. It said that many of the qualms from version 12 (Frodo) users have been addressed. Most notably, it now supports native hardware decoding on Android for x86 and ARM platforms, which should bring smoother playback for formats like Blu-ray. Other improvements include support for more 3D formats (with the notable exception of 3D Blu-ray), better touchscreen support, enhanced UPnP capability, "dramatic" audio engine improvements and easier setup. Though nightly versions have been available for a while, the company provided the usual caveats about beta software and the importance of backing up. If you're unperturbed by that, hit the source.
eBay snags a startup that helps you try clothes on virtually
Buying clothes online while you're lazing around in your underwear is a wonderful thing, but the tricky part is figuring out if that ironic t-shirt really flatters your figure. That's why eBay just bought a company called PhiSix -- the team's tech turns patterns and pictures of clothing into 3D models you can virtually try on. Those clothing models get draped on a virtual avatar (instead of your own body) so you get a sense of how the actual articles fit and move. If you punch in a few basic measurements, it'll even spit out size recommendations tailored to your frame. The company eventually plans to extend those virtual dressing rooms beyond its own site to third-party retailers that use its enterprise service, so it may not be long before you can model that pair of Spanx you've been eyeing up. eBay wants to try bringing the experience to brick-and-mortar stores too, but modeling outfits in scenarios like "walking down the street or hitting a golf club" seems a little much when you can just try everything on yourself.
How to craft the perfect parallax wallpaper for your iPhone and iPad
Sick of stretched, blurry or otherwise lame wallpapers on your iPhone or iPad? Apple's decision to make your background come alive with the parallax effect in iOS 7 means that using your standard wallpapers ends up giving you some not-so-sharp effects. But fear not: You can create a wallpaper of your own using any high-resolution photos you can find online. Below, you'll find the perfect resolutions for both static and parallax wallpapers as well as some tips on how to create the perfect background image for your device. iPhone 4s Static: 960 x 640 Parallax: 1,196 x 740 iPhone 5/5s/5c Static: 1,136 x 640 Parallax: 1,392 x 744 iPad 2/iPad mini Static: 1,024 x 1,024 Parallax: 1,262 x 1,262 iPad 3/4/Air/mini 2 Static: 2,048 x 2,048 Parallax: 2,524 x 2,524 Once you've found an image that fits your needs, it's time to cut it to the perfect size. There are plenty of free tools available to help you tweak it: Preview -- The Preview application on OS X lets you crop and resize images without a hassle, and there's even a handy formatting tool to resize images based on several iPhone and iPad resolutions. Unfortunately, it doesn't take the parallax effect into account. Paint -- If you don't have a Mac handy, you can always use this free Windows tool to slice up your images. Gimp -- For a little more control over your image editing, Gimp is a great solution. It's free, powerful and works on OS X, Windows and Linux. Snapseed or Skitch -- On iOS, either of these will allow you to crop, straighten or add effects to an image. A few things to keep in mind: iOS 7 will do its best to add contrast to the lock screen text and status bar, but it's not perfect. Make sure your wallpaper doesn't leave your clock or battery bar unreadable. If you use a static, screen-sized image with the parallax effect, it will automatically apply a bit of zoom to it, leaving it blurry. iPad wallpapers need to be square to account for the tablet's screen orientation. If you choose a non-square image, you'll likely be left with a stretched image once you turn your screen.
These 3D displays are looking better every day
The depth. The realism. The cuddles. I've never seen anything like it. [Photo Credit: Karin Dalziel]
Hershey and 3D Systems join forces to create printable confections
You may no longer have to settle for getting your chocolate in teardrop, bar or seasonal-bunny form. The Hershey Company has signed an agreement to develop printable treats with 3D Systems, which announced its own chocolate-equipped printer at CES last week. That yet-to-be-released machine will fall under the ChefJet line, and also supports printing 3D objects with sugar. With ChefJet's release still months away, it's unlikely that thousands of the machines are already plugging away at a secret factory in Hershey, Penn., but you better believe we'll be first in line when the custom-printed delights hit stores.
Google rolls out 3D maps for Tokyo and other Japanese urban hubs
As ubiquitous as 3D city maps might be these days, they typically don't cover Tokyo -- quite possibly due to the massive size of Japan's megalopolis. Google, however, has just taken on that daunting task. Fire up Google Maps or Google Earth and you'll now see 3D imagery for the greater Tokyo area, including landmarks like the Tokyo Sky Tree (that giant tower you see above). The expansion also brings 3D to the major population centers of Chiba, Kanagawa and Sendai. We'd advise against exploring the entirety of Google's enhanced Tokyo map unless you have a couple of hours to kill, but you can at least take a quick tour at the source link.
Daily Update for January 14, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some of the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Nest reaffirms iOS support, and other news for January 14, 2014
The biggest tech news of the last 24 hours was Google's acquisition of Nest. Many customers considered what that means for the future of Nest and iOS. To calm any fears, several Nest execs have confirmed that Nest's products will always support iOS. Now, the company has also released a FAQ confirming it: Will Nest continue to support iOS so I can have the Nest app on my iPhone or iPad? Yes, absolutely. We'll continue supporting iOS, Android and modern web browsers so you can check in on your home and control the temperature from wherever you are. In other news: Variety is reporting that The Social Network and West Wing scribe Aaron Sorkin has turned in the script for Sony's Steve Jobs biopic, which is based off of Walter Isaacson's biography. Final Cut Pro X may gain the ability to edit 3D video sometime in the future if a patent application is any indication. Apple has been granted US Patent No. 8,631,047 for "Editing 3D video." The patent details how to manipulate a stereoscopic three-dimensional image. Apple has lost a bid to oust its court-appointed monitor. US District Judge Denise Cote has denied Apple's request to remove Michael Bromwich, who's bound to ensure that Apple abides by anti-trust laws. Apple believes Bromwich has a personal bias against the company.
A sub-$600 desktop 3D scanner that folds into a box
Hidden in amongst the armies of 3D scanners in the South Hall of CES is the Matterform: a crowdfunded, $579 desktop 3D scanner that's also its own carrying case. The device operates on similar principles as other devices in the space, namely MakerBot's Digitizer. There are a couple of clear differences between the two offerings, right off the bat; first and foremost the price, with Matterform's offering coming in at a fraction of MakerBot's scanner. Also cool is the fact that the rotating bed also raises and lowers, so you get more angles for a fuller picture of the object being scanned. And then there's the fact that the whole thing folds up into a rugged case with a handle, for those ever-important 3D-scanning house calls. There's more info in the source link, including video of the included software in action. You can also pre-order the device there, if you're so inclined.
Here's Sharp's 85-inch 8K TV with glasses-free 3D
It's so big and bright that it wasn't hard to find inside Sharp's booth, even when surrounded by a sea of other televisions from the manufacturer. What you see above, folks, is an 85-inch, 8K glasses-free 3D TV from Sharp. This behemoth, ultra-high-res display is rather similar to the one from CES 2013, save for the fact you can enjoy three-dimensional content without any eye hardware. While everything about this LED TV is indeed interesting, we can't say we were too impressed by the glasses-free 3D. It is pretty easy for your eyes to get tired of the effect quickly, and at times some frames pass through so fast that it ends up making the content seem blurry -- we're not the only ones who feel this way, apparently. Aside from those things, the image is incredibly sharp; the TV was showing scenes from Life of Pi and Frozen, both of which looked stunning on the big screen. Obviously, Sharp's 85-inch, 8K 3D TV is still in the early stages, and thus it wouldn't be fair to judge it based on first impressions. Chances are it'll improve tremendously as the company continues to work on it. For now, it is a very dazzling thing to look at and we can't wait to see it down the road. Check out the pictures we took of it after the break, or, if you're here at the LVCC, stop by the Sharp booth to experience it yourself. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Epson introduces new Moverio glasses with head-motion tracking and camera
Everybody knows about those other smart glasses, but they're certainly not the only ones making a big fuss these days. Epson has been working on a similar product called the Moverio BT-100, for the last few years, and it's ready to show off the next iteration of its signature wearable at CES. This one, the BT-200, will retail for the same $700 price point as the original, and comes with Android 4.0 support and a few new features and capabilities: Bluetooth 3.0 support, head-motion tracking aided by sensors and Dolby Digital Plus for surround sound are among the new options. Also, there's a front-facing camera with image and video capture, but bystanders won't need to worry about asking you if you're filming them -- an LED lights up on the lower left corner anytime you're trying to capture precious moments. But how does it look inside the glasses? Thanks to a pair of tiny transparent displays built into the glasses, you can view movies, play games, do augmented reality and conduct other tasks while walking around, talking to other people or any other normal activity. It comes with an Android device attached that doesn't actually feature a touchscreen; rather, it acts like a mouse of sorts, mimicking your movements on the display and letting you drag the cursor around to wherever you want. It also features wireless mirroring, so other people can watch you fall flat on your virtual face on a HDTV. Sound good to you? Check out our full gallery of images and save up $700 before March. Mat Smith contributed to this report.
Intel unveils RealSense hardware and software line, including 3D camera module
The takeaway at today's Intel press event? All signs point to the RealSense product line -- a number of hardware and software products that "make interaction with technology simple, more natural and immersive," according to Intel's own words. The first product bearing the compound name is the RealSense 3D camera. Intel describes the product as "the world's first integrated 3D depth and 2D camera module that helps devices 'see' depth much like the human eye," suggesting that this isn't just a substitute for Leap Motion or Kinect. The camera does full-color 1080p and has an on-board sensor for gesture and face detection. The latter of which apparently helps it "understand emotions." It also recognizes foregrounds and backgrounds, so you can replace that messy room and make it appear as if you're Skypeing from the Moon. But, if you're looking for something more practical, you can also use it to scan objects in 3D using 3D System's Sense software. The RealSense 3D camera is set to be integrated into a number of diverse devices come the second half of this year, including tablets, Ultrabooks, laptops and all-in-ones, from top companies like Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo and NEC. Seven such devices are being demonstrated today, and Intel itself has a demo unit. If you'd rather talk to your computer than wave at it, there's also a next-generation version of Dragon Assistant from Nuance that will be part of Intel's RealSense push. Of, course, while all this sounds good on paper, it remains to be seen how much people will actually want to wink, point or shout at their laptop to get it to open Netflix or point Chrome towards Engadget.
Sharp is teasing a 3D-ready, 85-inch 8K display at CES, no glasses required
Sharp loves to show off the 8K technology it hopes to see in your living room in the future. It's no surprise, then, that the outfit is yet again using CES as a platform to tease another super, super high-res 85-inch screen. Unlike the gorgeous panel we saw last year (pictured above), though, this time Sharp's rolled into the desert with a glasses-free 3D flavor of its 7,680 x 4,320 display. The company isn't sharing many more details at the moment, but, for what it's worth, it did mention that its latest 8K creation was done in collaboration with Philips and Dolby. While we haven't seen this thing ourselves, we know it's here, somewhere in Las Vegas, so we'll be sure to update this post as soon as our eyes meet all those pixels.
The next game from Braid's creator supports the Oculus Rift
After indie game darling Braid's mass popularity, creator Jonathan Blow didn't go crazy and buy a Lamborghini or something. He started a game studio instead, to create his next big thing: The Witness. Blow was on-stage at Sony's big PlayStation 4 announcement event back in February (that was this year!), where he announced The Witness as headed to the PlayStation 4 as a "console exclusive" -- a coup for Sony's PlayStation 4 after Braid initially debuted exclusively on Microsoft's Xbox 360 in 2008. Since that announcement, Blow's been in development mode. The Witness was featured at Sony's PlayStation 4 review event, as well as trade shows like E3 and Gamescom, but he and his team have otherwise been pretty quiet. A few weeks ago, however, Blow posted a duo of enticing images (one of which is seen above) with the headline, "What could it mean??" The internet answered with the logical response: "Jonathan Blow possibly teasing Oculus [Rift] support for The Witness. This game seems like a perfect fit." is Reddit's headline. Surprising no one, The Witness -- at least the PC version -- will support the Oculus Rift. "The main work we are doing is not for the Oculus," Blow told Engadget. "But then, since we are doing 3D it is not that big a step to support the Oculus also, so we are implementing support for it." In other news, apparently The Witness will support 3D televisions! It's not clear how the headset will interact with the game in terms of gameplay input, but we're thrilled enough by the thought of exploring The Witness' first-person open-world using the Oculus Rift. And hey, maybe there'll be a consumer version in sight by the time The Witness launches in 2014!
