Render ghosts, molecular scanners, electromechanical couture, baby pics, autonomous ships
1. Where the people in architectural renderings come from.
“So where do these people come from now? For architects, the process of collecting their ‘entourage’ used to begin in architecture school. Scanned JPGs of people, cut out from magazines or newspapers like so many paper dolls, might be handed down from teachers to students. But the internet has changed all that. Now you can entrust a stock photography company to hire models posing as on-the-nose characters. Bundles of ‘Single Casual People‘ can be had for $50 or more.”
+ See also James Bridle’s Render Ghost project.
2. This molecular scanner for your smartphone will be amazing, if it works as advertised.
“Meet SCiO. It is the world’s first affordable molecular sensor that fits in the palm of your hand. SCiO is a tiny spectrometer and allows you to get instant relevant information about the chemical make-up of just about anything around you, sent directly to your smartphone.”
“Lea Albaugh‘s Clothing for Moderns is an investigation into the use of ‘soft’ actuators in couture electromechanical clothing. Borrowing from established textile techniques, using materials that are native to wearables, and focusing on processes that can be done by hobbyists, the project explores a possible vocabulary for wearables beyond surface ornamentation and rigid structures.”
4. The first digital picture on a computer was a baby pic (of course).
“He began with a photo of himself holding his infant son, and he cut himself out of his picture. What was left was a headshot of baby Walden. He and his colleagues scanned the image using a drum scanner, which captured the information from little squares of the image and turned that information into binary 1s and 0s—black and white pixels. This, close-up, is what the baby’s eye turned into…
5. DARPA’s planned autonomous, anti-submarine vessel.
“The Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Autonomous Vessel (ACTUV) program is building a fast, intelligent autonomous surface vessel. NREC is developing ACTUV’s path planner, the key component of the vessel’s autonomy system. ACTUV can operate autonomously for long periods of time with minimal supervision from shore. It avoids navigation hazards and follows the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), which define the “rules of the road” for ships and other ocean-going vessels.”
On Fusion: The racism NextDoor: how the site for neighbors has become a place where local racism pops out into the open.
Today’s 1957 American English Usage Tip:
Oops! One more travel related break for word tips.
The Credits
1. gizmodo.com | @bruces 2. consumerphysics.com 3. studioforcreativeinquiry.org 4. theatlantic.com 5. nrec.ri.cmu.edu
What the Baby’s Eye Turned Into