Disney World was adding digital face masks to guests in ride photos
Disney World is unsurprisingly determined to enforce mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has led it to some unusual experimentation with technology. Disney told WDW News Today in a statement that it stopped a recent practice of digitally placing masks on to the faces of theme park guests who are uncovered in ride photos. This was a test “in response to guest requests,” Disney said, although it didn’t explain why it began or stopped the practice.
Guests like Facebook user Tony Townsend recently noticed the practice for certain rides, including Dinosaur (above) and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Many believe the digital edits were meant to discourage riders from taking their masks off for the sake of a picture — people are theoretically less likely to endanger others if they know they’ll be seen wearing a mask regardless.
It’s unclear how Disney will enforce mask wearing on rides after this. It said it would “continue to expect” park attendees to wear masks any time they aren’t eating or drinking in a stationary position. Either way, it’s a rare instance of a company using image editing to enforce policies — we wouldn’t be surprised if others tried this, at least while the pandemic is still a major concern.
Google used a 64-camera rig to train its portrait lighting AI
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Mariella Moon
·Associate Editor
Sat, December 12, 2020, 10:07 AM PST
Google’s Portrait Light feature can make some of your more mediocre photos look a lot better by giving you a way to change their lighting direction and intensity. The tech giant launched the AI-based lighting feature in September for the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 before giving older Pixel phones access to it. Now, Google has published a post on its AI blog explaining the technology behind Portrait Light, including how it trained its machine learning models.
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To be able to train one of those models to add lighting to a photo from a certain direction, Google needed millions of portraits with and without extra lighting from different directions. The company used a spherical lighting rig with 64 cameras and 331 individually programmable LED light sources to capture the photos it needed. It photographed 70 people with different skin tones, face shapes, genders, hairstyles and even clothing and accessories, illuminating them inside the sphere one light at a time. The company also trained a model to determine the best illumination profile for automatic light placement. Its post has all the technical details, if you want to know how the feature came to be.
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Google
On the Pixel 4, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5, the Pixel Camera automatically applies Portrait Light in default mode and to Night Sight photos that have people in them. On older Pixels, you can find the option to switch it on under the Adjust section when you edit a photo of a human. If you want to be able to manually re-position and adjust the brightness of the lighting, you’ll have too shoot in Portrait Mode and edit the image in Google Photos.
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Virgin Galactic’s latest SpaceShipTwo test ends with a rocket motor failure
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Jon Fingas
·Associate Editor
Sat, December 12, 2020, 9:24 AM PST
Virgin Galactic’s latest major spacecraft test has ended unceremoniously. The company has revealed that SpaceShipTwo’s rocket motor didn’t ignite during the test above Spaceport America, leaving the machine to once again glide to Earth. Both the craft and the crew are “in great shape,” and there are backup motors on hand. Still, the company could only promise that it would make another attempt “soon.”
It’s too early to determine a cause for the failure at this stage.
This won’t necessarily lead to a large delay, but it’s still an unpleasant setback for Virgin. This test would have been the last before a new test phase where the company would have specialists sit in the cabin to help improve the experience for passengers — some of the last steps before commercial service begins. If there’s anything more than a small delay, Virgin can’t start taking paying customers for a while longer.
The test was also supposed to be the first crewed spaceflight ever to launch from New Mexico, and the first from Spaceport America. Like it or not, the history making will have to wait at least a little while longer.
Early update on flight: The ignition sequence for the rocket motor did not complete. Vehicle and crew are in great shape. We have several motors ready at Spaceport America. We will check the vehicle and be back to flight soon.
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) December 12, 2020
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ICYMI: We test the pricey and problematic ThinkPad X1 Fold
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Amber Bouman
·Community Content Editor
Sat, December 12, 2020, 9:00 AM PST
This week at Engadget, our editors were busy testing some unusual and unique devices. We tried out Lenovo’s first foldable tablet, the ThinkPad X1 Fold, and determined it was best left to early adopters. We clacked away at Corsair’s K60 Low Profile and determined that it was good for more than just gamers. We got a good look at Anova’s Precision oven — a combination convection-steam oven — that helped Nicole Lee cook the food of her dreams. In audio, we checked out Grado’s first true wireless earbuds, the GT220s, which have a thoughtful design and good sound quality. We also reviewed the Orba from Artiphon, a portable synthesizer, looper and MDE MIDI controller packed into a small, circular-shaped device.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold is remarkable but ultimately isn’t ready for the mainstream
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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
Lenovo has often shown a willingness to experiment with new technologies. The ThinkPad X1 Fold is a 13.3-inch foldable tablet PC that runs Windows and can act as a mini laptop with the addition of a keyboard. It can be used in a number of orientations (except for tent mode), but at 2.2 pounds and 24mm thick when folded, it’s hefty to operate with one hand. Cherlynn Low said that while the Fold is a well-made, serviceable device, it’s nowhere near ready for mainstream adoption.
It also doesn’t help that, at $2,600, the Fold is expensive — and both the $230 companion keyboard and $100 pen come separately. Cherlynn liked the leather cover, the comfortable keyboard and the bright and colorful 2K OLED screen. But there were snags on the software side: Microsoft struggles to adapt Windows for touchscreen-only operation and the app store still lacks options. Cherlynn also experienced some hiccups when switching between modes. While a remarkable achievement, she said the X1 Fold is best left to early adopters.
Corsair’s K60 RGB Pro Low Profile is a solid gaming keyboard
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Corsair K60 RGB Low Profile
Gaming keyboards can be popular with non-gamers for their sturdy construction and mechanical keys, though they’re usually louder and larger than others. Corsair’s K60 RGB Pro Low Profile challenges that: it’s a smaller, compact mechanical keyboard that eschews extras like media buttons, macro keys or a volume dial. Shorter than the standard K60, the Low Profile keyboard uses Cherry MX Speed keys which feel softer and more muted than the ones found on other Corsair decks.