A Single Picture: Now a Thousand Images!!!

Visual Media is considered as the most effective form of media. An average human being has the tendency to learn more via this medium than any other. As a result, nowadays every communication involves visual interactions. From buying products to learning new subjects; pictures, diagrams & videos are the modern day tools of the trade. Photography is one of the most vital examples of visual media. Since its invention, an estimated 3.5 trillion photographs have been taken till date, with 10 % of that amount being captured the past year alone. Photographs are considered useful for the following reasons: -

•   Ability to store memories of special occasions in life.

•   Capturing sceneries of beautiful holiday spots.

•    Keeping records.

Its sheer ability to express multitudes of information as well as emotions makes photography an irreplaceable tool in our daily life. Now for a second, let us imagine a photograph storing thousands more photographs in it. Though to a common person it may sound absurd, but thanks to today’s exponential rate of development of science of technology, this seemingly impossible objective is soon about to be turned into reality.

Background: -
 
Research is being conducted in the above stated matter &amazingly even a software dubbed “AverageExplorer” has been created by researchers at University of California, Berkley. Alexei Efros, an associate professor of electrical engineering & computer science is considered as the lead researcher of this project. He along with Jun-Yan Zhu, a UC Berkley CS graduate & Yong Jae Lee, a former post doctoral researcher at the University & also the lead author of the project’s findings, developed the initial programme.

Operation & Implications: -
 

•  The process of combining multiple pictures into a single image generally involves the process of combining the visual data present in each of the component systems to produce a meaningful result. Features can also be tweaked to take an average account of all the components or put weight on specific areas &characteristics, which can vary from user to user.

•  This software has an immense scope in today’s visual media ridden universe. Users can sift through tons of pictures, visual data in general in seconds simply by specifying a few constraints. The “dark matter” would no longer appear to be a subject of mystery.

•  Online Shopping will become fast, smooth &efficient, as customers would be able to make quick choices by judging “product rich” images.

•  Recognition Software would be revolutionized as computers would be able to identify facial as well as structural features in milliseconds once optimized for such operations via AverageExplorer.

•  Data storage spaces can be significantly reduced once “pictures can contain pictures” & computing, data traversing run times would hugely improve.

Once again, the beauty of technology has left humans befuddled by its magic & innovation. This software has the capability of revolutionizing the entire world of photography & to a huge extent human life, as people keep a vast amount of pictures to store special memories as well as conduct day-to-day business.

5 Apps That Will Make Spellbound

Nowadays, smartphones & tablets have become indispensible tools to an average person. Being “smart”, these gadgets are famous for providing users with innovative apps, which are capable of helping day-to-day life. Apple’s iOs & Google’s Android are the most notable smartphone/tablet operating systems & each of them boasts a plethora of apps capable of performing a wide range of tasks. These apps can be obtained from iStore (in case of Apple devices) or the Google Play Store (applicable for Android compatible devices). Most of these softwares are free & easily available but an internet connection is necessary for installation purposes. Discussed below are 5apps which are special in terms of their innovative approach & usefulness in day to day life: -

• Translator: - Language translator is an effective tool as an average person can come across multiple languages, which are unknown to him/her during his course of life, especially f he/she is a travelling professional or tourist. Google Translator helps users identify over 80 languages. It is available for freeon both iStore as well as Play Store. It is capable of identifying speech, texts even photos (only on android devices). It is a free to download app, though a running internet connection is needed for usage. 
• Encryptor: - Calls can now be made secure via ZRTP & AES 128 encryption. The man advantage being, improved privacy. Apple has Signal while Android users can use Redphone to encrypt their call. It is necessary that both callers involved have the necessary software installed on their devices. Service charges are nonexistent.
• Mosquito Repellent: -Smartphone apps can now be used to drive off mosquitoes as well. A high frequency sound is generated by the device once the concerned software is installed. People can rest easy as human ears are impervious to such high frequency sounds. Iphone users can use Anti-Mosquito Sonic Repeller while android users can go for Mosquito Go Away. Thanks to these apps, hanging outdoors can become a lot more pleasant than usual.
• Sleep Analyst: - Sleep is one of the most vital body functions necessary for maintaining a healthy life. The app known as Sleep Cycle Alarm is a useful little tool designed to help users attain a proper sleep. Once activated, it records sleep patterns before displaying detailed analysis to users. Once all such information is compiled, it creates alarm schedules in such a way that the user is ensured a proper sleep. It is very effective in maintaining life quality though time durations in attaining desirable results can vary from person to person.
• Live Scanner: - Real life emergencies require fast & effective retrieval of relevant information to ease such situations. Scanner Radio as well as Emergency Radio are apps, which make live information such as weather updates, air traffic, NOAA notifications, police activity etc easily available to users. Scanner Radio is available for free on both iStore & Play Store.

The above discussed apps are a must have for a modern smartphone user & they can count on these apps to enrich their lives.

Ultimate Sea Adventure on Phone- Oceanhorn

Oceanhorn even though seems to be inspired from Zelda; it is fantasy story full of adventure, battle and exploration. It is completely an interlaced story.

What you need to know about the game:

This game is about the story of a boy, who in search of his missing father is exploring everything about a monster named Oceanhorn. The game has exceptional narratives and has the capacity to draw the complete attention of the player and provide them with enough motivation for the actions that needs to be taken by the characters in the game. The game has been laced with high quality graphics and music to keep the player engrossed. Currently the game has been made to be compatible with every iOS and has been priced at $8.99 US.

What’s the story of Oceanhorn:

This is game all about a boy, who has been send to a completely different world with only his father’s book of his travel and a necklace of his late mother. The boy is in search of his father, who has gone missing after he went searching for Oceanhorn. The game starts with the boy meeting a hermit who guides him about collecting 3 sacred and holy emblems. In order to collect these emblems the character will be travelling across different islands and enters the exciting part of sailing and surfing.

The character can sail across different islands my developing a course of sail in the map and following the route. The water journey has been kept exciting with constant entry of attackers and enemies and other hazardous conditions. Just like most of the other games, it’s about shooting all the enemies in order to save your lives and health.

So what’s exciting?

Being a game based on adventure, exploration becomes the main exciting part. It’s up to the player to select their course of action. The choice can be difficult task as the game has not been designed to give any hints of which course or path to consider. In order to collect the emblem, player might have to repeatedly come back to same areas again and again. Interaction is the only means to collect ideas and information. These hints will enable the player to search a new area of probably complete a new task.

Puzzles have been incorporated to test the mind of the player as solving them can help to either collect treasure or get into a new location. Getting a puzzle solved is an exciting task but if it takes lot of time, might even frustrate certain players. Players need not get confused with puzzles to be main problem solver as they might to be even there just to confuse.

The enemies in the game has been developed tactfully like boss battle is about skills, player need to use their skill to kill these boss as they have to attack them for a long time and in the end can even get helpless.

What could be different?

The controls have been given well but the swipe control might occasionally trouble you and frame rate issues need to rectify.

In the end, this game will give you all the excitement you need to restore the empire of Arcadia when compared to other games at much higher costs.

5 Great Free Photography Programs

Computers have, without doubt, changed the nature of photography. Interacting with digital images, computer technology now allows all manner of changes to be made to an image. This throws up a whole host of questions about the idea of photographs as portraying reality or not, but it has also thrown open a door to previously inconceivable creativity. Below are some of the best free programs for manipulating our photographic images.

PhotoScape

PhotoScape offers not only standard photo editing facilities, but also enables you to turn your images into slideshows and Gifs. It has a lot of functions but you can customise all the toolbars so you only see the ones you need, meaning the program can be as advanced or basic as you make it. It also supports conversion of images from all DSLR cameras to Jpegs, with a simple and intuitive conversion and file storage system.

PhoXo

Ideal for the whole family, PhoXo is an ideal program for getting kids started on image editing. They can use the inbuilt functions to add clip art to photos or indeed draw ad paint on them. Customisable effects are easy to apply and you can watermark your images to protect them for copyright when publishing on the web.

Paint.NET

Paint.NET is an upgrade on the original Paint program for Windows that was one of the first free photo programs for Microsoft operating systems. The new version has a lot more functionality, with all the layering, effects and other tools you would expect from more expensive photo editing packages. Free to download, continuously updated and compatible with Windows 8.

GIMP

One of the first – and best – open source photography programs, GIMP is commonly regarded as the free alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Available for both Mac and PC, it offers comparable functions to Photoshop, without the hefty price tag. So you get a large workspace with layers and palettes aplenty that allow for professional level retouching and manipulation. And being open source, it is constantly getting upgraded with additional functions and bug fixes. If you have a fibre optic broadband connection, you can get the latest version uploaded in moments.

Irfan View

This is a god choice for those not looking to do major alterations to their photos and who want a program that doesn’t take up a lot of space on the hard drive. At less than 2 MB, Irfan View is one of the smallest free photo programs available. As such, it doesn’t have professional editing tools, but it is perfect for resizing images, adding captions, creating slideshows and tweaking the colour or brightness of an image. Simple and user-friendly

Intel Explores Wearable Devices for Parkinson's disease Research

Intel is planning to implement wearable gadgets to keep track and monitor patients who are suffering from Parkinson’s disease. The gadgets may include smart watches or smart bands and these gadgets will allow collecting the data of the patients and then this data will be transferred to the researchers and then these researchers will do the analysis accordingly.

They are collaborating with the Michael J. Fox Foundation in order to carry out multiphase research which will include study of the neurodegenerative brain disease. According to study it is estimated that nearly Five million people from all around the world have been analyzed and diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Hence it is said to be second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's. So it’s a serious issue and must be taken care of so this is the reason why Intel took the initiation to make this research.

The preliminary target or goal is to determine the practicability of implementing wearable devices to track patients remotely and store the data which is collected using these in an open system that can be retrieved and used by scientists for further study.

In the next stage of the research and study the foundation will establish funds to monitor how patients are replying or responding to the provided medication. The array of wearable devices will be used to track the patient’s records that will be the part of research.

These wearable smart devices will provide a useful method to keep track of patients from their work or homes, and the best part is that it will also allow people in the most rural parts of the country to get involved in the research. It’s a true fact that people of rural areas don’t have much resource to get involved in such type of research practices because they neither have much money nor they have any knowledge to understand such high projects so they are only concerned with their personal life hence they are not interested in such research. But Intel has always found the technical solution of every problem and this Parkinson’s disease research is the best example of this. So hats off to Intel Corporation.

These wearable gadgets will be provided to almost every patient who is suffering from the Parkinson’s disease. The research will take place in different phases and the details that will be obtained using these smart gadgets will be stored in the system that will be open to scientists for purpose of study. And these results will be analyzed by them and thus without any actual participation of patients the proper output in the form of medication will be discovered.

Now the most interesting part is the wearable devices that will be used. It is estimated that the wearable devices would be designed in such a way that patient or participant may wear it for whole research duration comfortably. It should be light weighted and should look good on wearing. Hence the smart watches are selected as the best device for this. But also it is in the news that they will work with Basis Science which is well known for its wrist band and this wrist band will measure the heart rate of the person wearing this.

So let’s hope that this research will be successful soon because it will help the patients suffering from Parkinson’s to get rid of this disease and live a healthy life.