Researchers Use Augmented Reality to Turn Coloring Books into 3D Experience

Colouring App Developed – Disney Research

A colouring app developed by Disney Research could cause characters to spring from the page in a 3D wonderthrough augmented reality. A child tends to colour a character on the book page normally while a smartphone or tablet running the app tends to monitor the drawing.

Based on the colouring of the child, the app fills the colours in real time on a 3D animated version of the character which is visible on the screen of the device and integrates it into a video. The core focus on the traditional activity of the colouring is maintained by the app while providing the magical digital overlay which tends to improves the engagement.

User testing performed by adults rather than the children in the early study, researchers observed that most of the users informed that the app increased their enthusiasm to draw in colouring books while 80% stated that the app increased their feeling of linking with the character.

Disney researchers, ETH Zurich as well as the Swiss university EPFL presented the augmented reality app at the ISMAR 2015 – IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality in Fukuoka, Japan.

Disney Color & Play

Though the work of the research was presented to scientific audience, it had gone through the tech transfer process already, motivating the commercial product known as `Disney Color and Play’ which was launched earlier in the year by Disney Publishing Worldwide and Bendon.

The work tends to fit in a huge initiative known as Augmented Creativity at Disney Research that aims on utilising augmented reality in improving creative play. Robert W, Sumner, principal research scientist leading the group on animation and interactive graphics at Disney Research stated that `augmented reality holds unique and promising capabilities in bridging between real world activities and digital experiences enabling user in engaging their imagination and boost their creativity.

They are thrilled to have the opportunity in presenting the scientific advances behind this technology and are particularly happy that it is available to consumers, thanks to the cooperation with Disney Publishing’.

App Functions on Device With Camera

The researchers, inorder to create a new experience, at first created animated 3D virtual characters and then utilised custom software in generating 2D line art representations of the characters for colouring book.

 The app functioning on a device with a camera that viewed the user and the colouring book automatically detects the character the user tends to colour, displaying the 3D version. As the child progresses with the colour to the 2D drawing, the app tends to apply the same colour to the 3D characters in the areas visible in the 2D drawing as well as to the remainder of the 3D form which is not visible in the book.

 Owing to the colouring occurring in real time, the illusion is developed that the user is also colouring the blocked areas with the same texturing of the colour. Defining how to apply colour to the blocked areas seems one of the most difficult issue, according to Sumner.

By mirroring the user’s strokes on colours does not seem to work since the patter of colours used for a character’s face would not be the same for the back of the character’s head. The colour also needs to be continuous in order that no seams are seen between the visible areas and the blocked areas or where dissimilar portions of the textures tend to meet.

Google Patent Application is about Head Display with Holograms

Google’s Patent Application for Holograms

Google has filed a patent application regarding holograms and the heading in the application states `Lightguide with several in-coupling holograms for display inhead wearable’. The two inventors named are Evan Richards and John Perreault and the application had been first filed in March 2014. Observer state that this could be linked to hardware platform for Magic Leap’s augmented reality content.

 Josh Constine in TechCrunch commented that `the patent contextualizes Google Inc.chief $542 million funding round for improved reality start-up Magic Leap. In TechCrunch, Constine seems to be asking Google - `when asked about the patent and its significance, he received from Google, a boilerplate no-comment response:

We hold patents on a variety of ideas, some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, and some do not. Prospective product announcement should not necessarily be inferred from our patents’. Jon Mundy had stated in TrustedReviews that the technology discussed in the patent application would overlay computer-generated imagery over the real world, not entirely unlike to Microsoft’s HoloLens.

The patent application reads – Single eye displays are referred as monocular HMDs while double eye displays are considered as binocular HMDs. Some HMDs display only CGI -computer generated image and other types of HMDs are capable of covering CGI overreal world view.

Patent Describes Technology – Several CGI Holograms

The later type of HMD includes come kind of see-through eyepiece and could serve as hardware platform in comprehending augmented reality. With this the viewer’s image of the world is amplified with an overlapping CGI as well as referred to as heads-up display –HUD.

The patent tends to describe technology which would enable several CGI holograms to appear in real world while the user seems to be wearing a see-through smart eyepiece. It would focus on the problem of mapping real world light sources on AR digital substances.

It means holograms, an extremely complicated issue and one which oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe stated as a purpose in pursuing VR over AR. The only reference of the field of view is in the list of encounters for headgear though it is expected that Google would be looking into developments on Microsoft’s hard work.

With regards to the uses of AR, Google’s patent states that the `public safety applications comprise of tactical displays of maps and thermal imaging. Other application field consist of transportation, video games,and telecommunications.

Magic Leap – Content Provider for Google Glass

There are sure to be new found applied and leisure applications as the technology evolves, but several of these applications tend to be limited due to the cost, weight, size, field of view and the efficiency of conventional optical system utilised in implementing prevailing HMDsMagic Leap had been very discreet with regards to what hardware its amplified reality software would essentially run on.

Mikhail Avady, StartUp Legal’s founder who had monitored Magic Leap’s latest AR content trademark application, had informed TechCrunch that `they believe Google wants Magic Leap to be the content provider for Google Glass and if they look at the trademark application it shows story and content based trademarks.

 Magic Leap wants to turn the world into a movie theatre and Google want it to be through Glass’.Presently it seems to be all assumption though it could be based on research, patents and investments and hence could be the safest form on which to place your dreams and hopes for the impending of improved reality

IBM Breakthrough Improves Carbon Nanotube Scaling Below 10nm

IBM – Beneficial Scaling Abilities in Carbon Nanotubes

IBM has invested a great amount of time and effort in researching carbon nanotubes – CNTs in the past few years. The presence of single walled carbon nanotubes together with their marvellous semiconductor properties happened independently at NEC as well as at IBM with Big Blue being interested in capitalizing on the discovery for over a decade.

Researchers at IBM published a paper wherein they claimed to have demonstrated extremely beneficial scaling abilities in carbon nanotubes. Discussions were on, regarding the difficulties of scaling semiconductors since the distance between features tends to contract with each passing generation.

However the specific breakthrough which IBM tends to claim is in an area of chip design and not much has been discussed over it. In the case of conventional silicon, a known problem as semiconductors tends to shrink and the contact area from the metal and semiconductor has not been scaling.

Smaller contact area, generally lead to increased resistance which means higher heat. Manufacturers have battled against these developments with various methods. However the lack of contact scaling seems to be one of the main barriers in pushing silicon to ever smaller sizes.

Carbon Nanotube Technology – Solution to Problem

IBM is of the opinion that its carbon nanotube technology could solve that issue. EETimes has an amazing write-up of the technology, though it amusingly refers to EUV lithography as `already in place’, a declaration which would surprise Intel as well as TSMC. With the recent innovation,Shu-Jen Han, IBM Manager of nanoscale science and technology at its T.K. Watson Research Centre informed EE Times that `they know how to scale and it is no longer the limiting factor for carbon nanotube transistors.

 The new contacts are measured in angstroms and they have just 36 k-ohms of resistance inclusive of both ends’. The new method involves welding – nanowelding – nanotube with molybdenum prior to self-align as transistor channels. The last step is to heat the assembly to around 850C, melting the molybdenum off and developing carbide. Richard Doherty of Envision engineering is of the opinion that this solution gives IBM an exceptional advantage in scaling along the way to 1.8nm.

Group Evaluating Changes to Measuring Standards

IBM could be preparing the technology, in readiness at the 5nm node for the introduction at 3nm and below, according to EETimes. With the method which has already been proven in theory at 9nm, it seems to be a bit of a block to further scaling. However, there are some cautions pointed to these findings.

Firstly, the fact that IBM is presently capable of building p-type transistors utilising this method which does not mean that the technology seems useless. Several of the proposed near term solutions for enhanced silicon scaling depends on various materials for the p-channel and n-channel, though it positively presents additional complexity.

The International Technical Roadmap for Semiconductors had not been issued since 2013 and the group is presently evaluating changes to its measuring standards for formulating latest reports. However the 2013 data set is yet online and viewing it, the roadmap for near term introduction of carbon nanotubes is not very appealing.

How to Tackle the Network Intruders

Spotting intruders on Network

Spotting intruders on network could take a long time and according to Peter Woollacott, head of security firm Huntsman, he states that `the time between attacks and detection could stretch to 200 days. It tends to take so long since there is a shortage of capable security analysts but there seems to be huge amount of technology with provision for threat information’.

Analysis recommends one reason US retailer Target suffered one of the largest data breaks in American corporate history was due to the company’s threat detection systems overwhelmed its security staff with fake alarms and in the midst of all the noise they failed to recognize the real intruders.

There were some clues that infidelity site Ashley Madison had also been exposed by an insider who had taken data from its internal network. According to chief technology officer at Trend Micro, Raimund Genes, and thereason for so much data to siftthrough is due to the intruders changing their tactics.He added that they usually began with a social engineering attack and grab information from Facebook to sound believable, making it appear that they know you’.

Fake Familiarity to Trick People

This fake familiarity tends to trick the people in opening a booby-trapped email, enabling them to steal credential which are then utilised to get at a company network. Probably it could lead to a link which provides the attacker entry to a work computer.

Mr Genes states that for that reason, several firms tend to monitor what occurs on their internal network, a space which earlier they had presumed to be trustworthy. Several of the companies operate on a `castle and moat’ basis though this means that their defences being strong are largely outward facing.

 They could miss the attacks which could come from within, or perhaps by sappers channelling under the walls or vandals that have made their way in tricking them. Rotating their defences inward could resolve this issue. However, May Turner from security firm Solar Winds, states that watching all that internal traffic on an intranet is hard. The infrastructure has got very complex and there are a lot of moving parts.

Machine Power for Information Collection – Essential

On daily operations each device on the network tends to generate information on what it is doing. The image is more complicated by the way modern threat intelligence systems monitor as well report the activity on the intranet which could sum up to million if not billions, with each daily event in need of analysis.

Turner state that the importance lies in understanding what is happening on that network and whether the events seem to be normal. The patterns are probably unique to that network so more traditional approaches established around signatures of known attacks could be less useful.

Gradually companies as well as large organisations are revolving to tools which tend to watch traffic flows around their networks, alerting their staff to irregularities. Several modern attacks those which begin with emails hoaxed to look like they have come from some known person do not resemble an attack since they have used your login name and password.

 It seems like you are logging in. On the contrary, the cyber thieves utilise the stolen identifications to navigate the network and obtain valuable resources. Mr Woollacott is of the opinion that machine power to do some of the information collection is essential. Anomaly detection is great, it is very powerful though it needs to be utilised in combination with high speed procedures

Global Nuclear facilities 'At Risk' of Cyber-Attack

Cyber-Attacks on Nuclear Power Plants on the Rise

According to a report, the danger of serious cyber-attack on nuclear power plants across the globe is on the rise. It has stated that civil nuclear infrastructure in several nations are not well equipped to defend against such outbreak.

 The report had mentioned that most of the control systems for the organization were insecure by design due to their age. Circulated by the influential Chatham House committee, the report considered cyber defences in power plants across the world over an 18 month period. It stated that cyber criminals, state sponsored hackers as well as terrorists were increasing their online activity which would mean that the risk of a significant net based attack would prevail.

 This kind of attack on nuclear plant though on small scale or unlikely, should be taken seriously due to the harm which would follow if radiation was released. Besides, it is said that even a small scale cyber security instance at a nuclear facility would lead to a disproportionate effect on public opinion as well as the future of the civil nuclear industry.

Research, unfortunately carried out for the study indicated that the UK’s nuclear plants and the related organization did not seem to be adequately protected or prepared due to the industry being converted to digital systems recently.

Increase in Digitisation/Growing Reliance on Commercial Software

Increase in digitisation and growing reliance on commercial software is giving rise to the risk that the nuclear industry tends to face. There seems to be a `pervading myth’ that computer systems in power plants were isolated from the internet due to which, they were immune to the type of cyber-attacks which has evaded other industries.This air gap between the public Internets and nuclear system seems easy to breach with `nothing more than a flash drive’.

It observed that the destructive Stuxnet computer virus infected Iran’s nuclear facilities through this route. The researcher also came across virtual networks together with other links to the public internet on nuclear structure networks.

Some of these seemed to be unknown or forgotten, by those in charge of these organisations. Search engines which had hunted out critical structures had indexed these links making it easy for attackers to locate ways in to networks as well as control systems

Security with Cyber Security – Priority for Power Station Operators

According to chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, Keith Parker, he states that `security inclusive of cyber security is an absolute priority for power station operators. All of Britain’s power stations are designed with safety in mind and are stress tested to withstand a huge range of potential incidents. Power station operators tend to work closely with national agencies like the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure and other intelligence agencies, to be aware of emerging threats always’.

He added that the industry’s regulator continuously monitors plant safety to protect it from any outside threats.The first international conference with regards to cyber threats facing plants and manufacturing facilities was held in June this year by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

 Yukiya Amano, director of the IAEA had informed during the conference, that both random as well as targeted attacks were directed at nuclear plants. In a keynote address to the conference he commented that `staff responsible for nuclear security needs to know how to repel cyber-attacks and to limit the damage should the system be penetrated.