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UK forces Meta to halt its forced sale of Giphy
The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal has ordered the country’s antitrust watchdog to review the decision to order Meta to sell Giphy.
LG made an air purifier for your face
Fancy wearing an air purifier on your face?
Signal adds a face blurring tool its secure messaging app
Signal has added a face-blurring feature to its app.
Android Pay could use your face to authenticate loyalty programs
It's not that hard to add points to your loyalty cards on Android Pay, but it looks like Google is mulling on an experimental feature to automate the process. 9to5google has torn the latest version of the app apart and found lines of code that hint at a feature called "Visual ID," which authenticates your loyalty points by using facial recognition. Based on the strings the publication found, you'll have to create a "face template" when you activate the feature. Participating stores that have Visual ID cameras installed will then confirm your identity when you walk in. Once the system determines that it's you, and it ascertains your location using Bluetooth, Google will send them your loyalty details.
The internet knows how unattractive I am
Honestly, I'm fine with being unattractive, because owning your flaws is the best way to avoid becoming defined by them. But if the subject comes up in conversation, I'll joke that, on a hypothetical scale, I'm a "four ... in bad light." The internet, however, has enabled me to find out precisely how other people rate my attractiveness. It's been a fun week.
Facial recognition will find your disappointing sex-cam double
Using your face to unlock your smartphone, or seeing Google or Facebook's algorithms identify your friends and family proves that facial recognition tech can be useful. But where there's a will, there's a way to... repurpose technology for the adult entertainment industry. On webcam show hub Megacams, you can upload a picture of yourself and it uses machine-learning facial recognition magic to find your sex-cam lookalike. I'm not sure why you're looking for someone that's pleasing themselves on camera when they look just like you. Regardless, the technology is here -- although the site is (obviously) not at all safe for work-time browsing. I warned you.
'NBA 2K15's' face scanning creates frightening players
NBA 2K15 arrived today, and with it comes a face-scanning feature that allows you to create a player based on your appearance. Well, as you might expect, the results when you don't sit still are... interesting. The folks over at SB Nation compiled a few of the most awesomely terrible creations, and they're quite scary. Of course, I'm interested to see what this means for the return of "NBA Y2K" in a few weeks. Looking to avoid transforming yourself into some sort of goblin? Here are a few tips for a proper scan. If only you could opt for EA's rig for a bit more accuracy.
NBA 2K15 scans your face, thinks you're beautiful
NBA 2K15 will feature the ability for players to scan their faces into the game and onto the bodies of digital athletes. 2K Sports revealed the feature in a tutorial video, which instructs prospective virtual basketballers to hold the PlayStation Camera six to 12 inches away from their faces. After slowly turning their head both ways, players will find their mapped mugs in the game, at which point they can fine-tune their features. Created players can then be used in MyCareer mode, where they will likely get dunked on by cover star Kevin Durant. While the tutorial mentioned the PlayStation Camera by name, 2K says the feature uses "first-party camera hardware." The publisher also doesn't specify whether the feature is locked to a given console, indicating that Xbox One players can use the Kinect to scan their faces as well. NBA 2K15 will launch October 7 for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. [Image: 2K]
WoW's Warlords of Draenor expansion is making faces at you
When Blizzard launches World of Warcraft's Warlords of Draenor expansion later this year, players will be getting more than just the long-awaited character body model upgrades; they're also getting new facial geometry. Art Director Chris Robinson wrote today on the game's official blog, Our next big focus is doing justice to the facial options. With the original models and their simplistic geometry and low-resolution textures, a lot of facial expressions were simply painted on. Now that we've moved to higher-polygon models with lips, teeth, and fully articulated faces-not to mention higher-resolution textures-recreating those same facial options isn't as simple as painting them onto a flat surface. Previously, to get a sneer out of a model, you'd just paint a sneer on its face, and that was that. To do it correctly now-and make it look great-we have to fully pose a sneer, create a custom texture, and mesh that base pose with all of the existing emotes and animations. Robinson also said that Blizzard is "committed" to launching all of the new models together rather than roll them out independently post-launch, but a later tweet indicated that Blood Elf models will not make it in for launch.
A video preview of Guild Wars 2's brand-new character faces
As part of yesterday's Festival of the Four Winds patch, ArenaNet updated Guild Wars 2 with a slew of new face options, three new faces for each race and gender. The faces are available in the Total Makeover Kit purchaseable in the cash shop. Friend of Massively Richie "Bogotter" Procopio has uploaded a video to his YouTube channel previewing all of the new faces so you can see whether it's worth shelling out for the freckles and rhinoplasty of your dreams. Enjoy it below!
PayPal trials mugshot verification in UK stores
PayPal employees at the company's UK headquarters are tired of having to use traditional payment methods when buying their rocket and crayfish sarnies. It's almost an affront, in fact, so they're pushing local retailers in Richmond Upon Thames to trial an updated, entirely PayPal-based system that uses photo authentication to make things faster. If you want to try it, go to the "Local" section of your PayPal app (on iOS, Android or WP), which should show nearby participating shops, and simply select the one you're visiting -- this will then cause your name and profile picture to come up on the seller's app so they can verify you're the account holder and process the transaction. Having given it a quick armchair run-through, the system looks similar to what PayPal already offers in some Australian stores, and it's apparently PIN-free at the point of purchase -- although you'll obviously have had to authenticate your app when you installed it, as well as have uploaded a reasonably realistic (and preferably static) profile picture.
Square Enix uses your face for action in Bloodmasque
Square Enix's Bloodmasque was undoubtedly the strangest game I saw at E3 last week, and in a year defined by indie titles and two new HD consoles, I think that's saying something. Square Enix has had a weird time with the App Store -- other companies like Capcom and EA have found a lot of success in smaller titles, but Square Enix has clung to its own console traditions, releasing relatively large and high-quality, high-production titles for a relatively high cost. Bloodmasque follows this trend (though the price has yet to be announced just yet), and it also brings one weird little twist that was actually more charming than I expected. The game is based in an alternate universe, sort of steampunky version of Paris in 1890, where an empire of vampires (yes, a vampire empire) rules the world. One plucky adventurer has the guts and the magical powers to stand up to those empires, and that adventurer is you. Literally you, I mean, because the game scans your face, and then inserts it right on to the main character. That's me and my character above, though keep in mind that this was day three of E3, so if I look a little tired, that's why. The face-scanning thing is a gimmick, and yet strangely it works: After my face was scanned in and my hair was tuned to the right shape and color, I watched as my character (a little more fit than I am) saved a damsel in distress, and carried out a vampire fight scene. I tapped to attack, swiped to dodge and then when the vampire was almost dead, pulled off a jumping leap and staked him right in the back of the neck. You can actually record three different faces, so you get one frowning, one standard and one smiling. Each of them can look very different, which can make the animation a little strange. Even under the best of conditions, the face looks weird and a little creepy, sure, but I could tell it was me, so I guess that's the point. Bloodmasque itself is really just a series of missions, which you navigate around via an overworld map. There's a light social game built on it as well -- you can choose two friends to join you in battle scenes, and their faces will also show up on screen as you play (you can elect to keep your face private, if you like, or you can choose a premade face if you're not interested in showing your mug to the world). Your friends get bonuses when you use them in battle, and vice versa, so having an oft-used mug will earn you more blood for upgrades and XP for missions. There are exploration levels, too, but I found them pretty bland, unfortunately. We'll have to wait until the full game arrives to see if the story pulls us in at all. But the setting is distinct (steampunk is always a plus), and that face gimmick makes for a very interesting twist indeed. If the combat can sustain the fun, Bloodmasque could be a riotous way to put a character together, featuring your very own look. Square Enix seems attached to the idea that selling premium games at a premium price will work, and I'm not one to disavow them of that, especially as lots of other companies race towards the bottom. Bloodmasque should be an interesting experiment -- it's set to come out sometime later on this summer.
XYZbot's Fritz offers a cheaper robot head, free trips to the uncanny valley (video)
It's been relatively easy to get your hands on an expressive robot face... if you're rich or a scientist, that is. XYZbot would like to give the rest of us a shot by crowdfunding Fritz, an Arduino-powered robot head. The build-it-yourself (and eerily human-proportioned) construction can react to pre-programmed actions, text-to-speech conversion or live control, ranging from basics like the eyes and jaw to the eyelids, eyebrows, lips and neck of an Advanced Fritz. Windows users should have relatively simple control through an app if they just want to play, but where Fritz may shine is its open source nature: the code and hardware schematics will be available for extending support, changing the look or building a larger robot where Fritz is just one part. The $125 minimum pledge required to set aside a Fritz ($199 for an Advanced Fritz) isn't trivial, but it could be a relative bargain if XYZbot makes its $25,000 goal -- and one of the quickest routes to not-quite-lifelike robotics outside of a research grant.
Breakfast Topic: Do any of your avatars use the ugly face?
Roleplayers, you're off the hook for this morning's Breakfast Topic for obvious reasons, but it's time for everybody else to 'fess up. Be honest here -- no saving face (har, har). Do any of your characters have the ugly face? You know the faces I mean. There's the shopworn gnome shown above (although you have to wonder if she's meant to be homely, old, or perhaps just exposed to too much radiation), and of course there's -- sorry guys, gotta be honest here -- the whole male human race. I have an ugly banker. She's a human with the ugly/old/mean face, created that way specifically because she feels ugly and mean about being a class I would love to level but don't have time for. Otherwise, my avatars all use the most serious, intent expression available for their races. I think it lends gravitas to what I'm doing in the game. Still, I don't like to be downright ugly. I'd love an older face to match the my dwarf's platinum braids, but only if it didn't look doughy and irradiated like the gnome in the header image. Are you running around with one of Azeroth's infamous ugly faces? If so, what made you choose that face? Did you regret it once you were in game and had leveled up a bit, and would you change it now if you could? Or you happy to stand apart from the googly-eyed, pillow-lipped doll faces of Azeroth?
343 turns the other cheek: Halo 4 won't reveal Master Chief's face
Halo 4 won't reveal Master Chief's face, so if you were playing the Halo series solely for a glimpse of chiseled space soldier jawline, it might be time to throw in the towel. 343 Industries is continuing the faceless precedent set by Bungie, which refrained from showing Master Chief's visage throughout its time with the franchise.Not that we don't know what Master Chief looks like – he's described in detail in the 2001 novel Halo: The Fall of Reach."The funny thing about the Chief is he's actually really well described," O'Connor tells Eurogamer. "If you went down into that line and found a nerd with a deep canon Halo t-shirt and said describe the Master Chief to this police sketch artist, that police sketch artist would then produce a perfectly accurate rendering of an older man, almost painfully pale, almost albino white, with pale blue eyes, reddish hair, close cropped to a skin head, and maybe the last remnants of freckles he had when he was a kid."O'Connor wants to keep the mystery alive and doesn't want fans to feel alienated by an official face. "That's a device to keep the player invested in the character and keep the player from constantly being reminded that they're not a hero or that they have to be a boy or they have to be a girl, or whatever that is," O'Connor says.Maybe it's better this way, super fans. More often than not, on-screen adaptations of book descriptions are supremely disappointing.
Facebook shutting down facial recognition in the EU, gets stamp of approval from Ireland DPC
Earlier this year, Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner, a body whose decisions impact Facebook's policies in Europe at large, made several recommendations to bring the website in line with regional privacy laws, calling for greater transparency on how users' data is handled and more user control over settings, among other things. The DPC just officially announced that Zuckerberg et al. have for the most part adjusted its policies accordingly. The biggest change involves the facial recognition feature, which attempts to identify Facebook friends in photos and suggest their names for tagging. The social network turned off this functionality for new users in the EU -- and it will be shutting it down entirely by October 15th. It's not like Ireland, home to Facebook's European HQ, is the first to give the site flack about such features: Germany was having none of it when the site introduced facial recognition last summer.
Chinese androids wear tracksuits, play sports, but not at the same time (video)
When we last caught up with the Beijing Institute's family of bots, their abilities extended to slow (but pretty) tai chi moves. Returning three years later, we see that they're coming along nicely: BHR-4 is still going through the old graceful routines, but now he's wearing a human face and fetching sportswear to look like one of his creators. The 140-pound android beats certain Japanese alternatives by having both a fully-actuated body and a face that can mimic emotions, like surprise and fear when someone tries to give it a decent hair cut. Meanwhile, brother BHR-5 doesn't bother with appearances, but instead has graduated to playing ping-pong in the hope of one day taking on rivals from Zhejiang University. He uses high-speed image processing and 32 degrees of freedom to pull off rallies of up to 200 shots, and he'll do his utmost to impress you in the video after the break. [Image and video credit: CCTV-4]
Face.com kills developer APIs and Klik app three weeks after Facebook acquisition
A ripple went through Face.com's developer community three weeks ago when the company was acquired by Facebook. After all, what earthly reason would the social network have for continuing third-party developer support of the product? None, as it turns out -- API support for the firm's mug recognition software will be dropped in early August, and its iPhone app, Klik, is now gone from the App Store. Despite recent assurances to the contrary (pictured above) Face.com pulled the plug in order to devote its resources to Zuckerberg and Co., according to an email it sent to developers. Naturally, the sudden reversal has inflamed that group, with prominent members tweeting language like "boycotting" and "months of work wasted." There's a sliver of hope, however, for forlorn developers -- at least one member of the community says he's been granted an API extension through October. In the meantime, developers will likely be venting -- and won't even be able to track that rollercoaster of emotions anymore.
Face.com acquired by Facebook for an estimated $80 million+, facial tagging clearly at the forefront
Facebook already dropped the "the," so why not oversimplify and drop the "book," too? All jesting aside, Facebook is continuing its recent buying spree with the acquisition of Face.com for an estimated $80 - $100 million. The Israeli-based startup is being entirely scooped up by Zuckerberg's social network -- talent and technology included -- and it's fairly obvious that the company's heralded facial recognition IP is what Facebook is truly after. To date, Facebook's desktop tagging recognition is ho hum at best, and it's practically an afterthought on the mobile front; 'course, with Camera• now being released, it's high time the company got serious about tagging on the go. For those wondering, Face's blog post on the matter seems to make clear that third-parties currently using its API will continue to be supported, and while there aren't specific plans being laid out, we're told that the "next steps are going to be exciting for all of us." In related news, it's tremendously unlikely that Barnes & Noble lets go of book.com in order to give Facebook the pleasure of owning both ends of the URL spectrum.
Samsung tweaking Face Unlock to require blinking, smiling still optional
Still paranoid about a friend sneaking past your four-dot-oh facial security and revealing all your little secrets? Worry no more, as Sammy's got a solution for you. The new feature is stuffed inside the tasty ICS being delivered now to global Galaxy S IIs, adding the need to blink in order to bypass the Face Unlock screen. Aside from the eyelash-flashing bit included in the upgrade, Samsung's Product Planning Team says they've also added Photo Editor, Beta Font, Snapshot and a novel S Go Launcher Pro. You can check out the full interview with Samsung's whiz-squad at the source below.
