Light Start – Emotional Microsoft, Hyundai AR, car photography, 4K Blu-ray, and Bluetooth boosts
Brett Venter
Augmented Reality Guide
Microsoft’s Project Oxford can tell how you’re feeling using your photos
Microsoft’s AI efforts are progressing nicely and soon all of humanity will be under the yoke of the computer overlor- Oh, wait, that’s under embargo until 2020. First, something a bit more basic. Microsoft’s Project Oxford, specifically their Emotion API, can now judge emotions in an image based on facial analysis of that image. You can test it out yourself, with the Live Demo providing a chance to try out Oxford, but as you can see from our test image it’s surprisingly accurate. Spotting happiness in that face was a remarkable achievement (and that happiness was definitely there).
Hyundai debuts an augmented reality manual for car owners
Hyundai will be launching a new app which will walk new car owners through the various features in their car. Books already do that, so what? The new app, called Hyundai Virtual Guide, will be an augmented reality app that will use the camera in a tablet to highlight over 45 different features in the 2015 Hyundai Sonata – at least at launch. Users will be able to point their tablet at car bits and the app will explain what the bit are, as well as exactly where they are. Other models of Hyundai will be added at a later stage to the app. Since the Sonata is in short supply in SA, at least under that name, we’re probably not in the initial rollout. Cool idea though.
So researchers are studying whether taking photos of cars can tell you anything about the people taking them…
Just when you thought it was safe to post photos on the internet… Actually, that’s a trick. It’s never safe. Moving on: Researcher from Auto Insurance Center in the States have been looking at Instagram data in the US to see which car brands are the most tagged in photos of the vehicle. The point of the study was to… see if there was any point. And they did come up with some interesting data. Turns out that if you have a BMW you’re more likely to take photos of it – but we know what they say about BMW drivers, right?* If you’re looking at ratios those, exotics like the Ferrari and the Lamborghini get way more coverage than they do sales. As it should be.
4K Blu-ray discs will be going on sale in early 2016 – Reason to get a new TV?
Sony will be releasing the first 4K Blu-ray discs onto the market in early 2016, meaning that you might finally have a reason to really splash out on a 4K TV. Or do you? Well, what can you expect from the launch? Sony’s list includes “…Fury, Captain Phillips, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Men In Black, Ghostbusters, The Fifth Element, Bad Boys, The Da Vinci Code, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Leon: The Professional, Lawrence Of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Guns of Navarone, Taxi Driver, [and] Mr. Smith Goes to Washington“, among others. The very first releases will consist of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Salt, Hancock, Chappie, Pineapple Express, and The Smurfs 2… so perhaps hold off on that new TV purchase for now, yeah? Just until we see what they’ve got. Adam Sandler doesn’t count.
Your Bluetooth will be better, stronger, faster, next year
Bluetooth – Can’t live with it, can’t keep it out of your head using a tin-foil hat. Actually, we just can’t live without it. And it’s set to become more indispensable in 2016, when Bluetooth SIG will be improving the connectivity tech. Improving how, we hear you ask? They’re going to be increasing its speed, range and adding mesh networking to Bluetooth, all without increasing the power consumption required. Which means that all those added benefits aren’t going to ding your battery life at all. 2016’s going to be a good year.
