Siri-type-voice speaking/reading open source software?

Does anyone know any open source software for a voice that can read text well? For example, a voice + clarity in speaking like Siri's?

Not sure what this mechanism is called.

I am looking into Jasper for voice recognition, but I also need a voice to "talk back".

Any help would be appreciated! (ksfatima@nyu.edu)

smart terrain 2

Oh. My. God :

www.youtube.com/embed/ILb5ExBzHqw

Smart Terrain

YOUR work in INside AR Germany 2014!!!!

Hey guys -
Inside AR is coming up Oct 29-30 in Germany-!!!!!!!
http://www.insidear2014.com/

This is considered to be the biggest AR event in Europe..
Brendan is giving a Keynote and would show a specific class project-
*** You would have to create something for Grand Central Terminal and go there-
Document it- I cold help you-
Here is a project I proposed for a class assaingment when I was a grad- [the top one]- http://www.markskwarek.com/upcoming_project.html

He wants you to use the point cloud + metaio creator- He made a 3d map of the terminal-

There is a small chance if what u made was amazing that it could be an official app for GCT...
No promises but a great opportunity!!

If you want in email me and I can send u the 3d map he made-
Be creative + talk to me and I can help you-
polytech3d@gmail.com
Id give u bonus points for people who help out-

Thx!!

Mark

Magic Leap Secures $542M Led By Google For “Lightweight Wearable” Tech That Merges Physical And Digital Worlds

Posted yesterday by Darrell Etherington (@drizzled)

•  30
• inShare757
• More

Next Story

It’s rare that a company can stay relatively secretive while raising a huge amount of funding, but Florida’s Magic Leap has managed that. The startup, led by CEO Rony Abovitz, announced today the close of its $542 million Series B, featuring investors led by Google, Inc., and including KPCB, Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, Qualcomm and Legendary Entertainment.

The list of investors reads like a who’s who of influential companies and individuals across various industries, and Abovitz explained to TechCrunch that the reason for that is that the tech’s potential isn’t limited to any one field, which he says puts its potential market size in the trillions of dollars annually range. That could explain the valuation of Magic Leap, which is north of $1 billion, given that this round is still a minority investment, per Abovitz.

But what is Magic Leap? It’s a question that the startup isn’t answering in detail just yet, though they are pulling back the curtain just a little more than they have in the past with this fresh funding.

“If you think about what mobile computing is right now, it’s portable, it’s great, and I call it ‘making your hand happy,’ in that you can hold it and it’s great,” Abovitz said. “Your hand is happy, but your eye is not. What I mean by your eye is not happy, if you step outside your office and look at San Francisco Bay, it’s just this visual feast, and there’s no movie theater, there’s no television display, there’s nothing that will ever match the grandeur of what our own brains can create in terms of visual experience.”

Magic Leap, then, is combining that inherent visual ability with mobile computing – giving you visual output equivalent to when you step outside into the world, but powered by the mobile tech you carry around. Nor will this be something that involves a huge head-mounted display, Oculus Rift-style, Abovitz is keen to note – he characterized it as a “lightweight wearable” hardware solution, though he wouldn’t go into further detail about what exactly that meant. Based on his comments, it sounds like artificial, but extremely realistic images like the one shown in the image above might be projected directly onto a user’s retina to achieve this effect, but we may have to wait until an official reveal to learn more about the nature of the device(s) in use here.

What Abovitz would tell me is that they think of Magic Leap’s capabilities in terms of both the phrases “the world is your new desktop,” and “the world is your new silver screen,” meaning it provides a visual experience not bound by traditional media content consumption devices. The use of both those phrases also hints at some of the potential markets for the tech – silver screen includes Hollywood in the mix, which helps explain why both Legendary Pictures, and Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull personally invested in Magic Leap as part of this round.

“I was an Oculus Rift investor, and they’re certainly doing some amazing things,” Tull explained in a separate interview with TechCrunch. “Magic Leap takes a completely different approach, and all I can say is that as I got to know Rony [Abovitz] and we got to really know and like each other this past year, and I went to their headquarters and I spent half a day immersed in [their technology], I just couldn’t get the smile off my face.”

Abovitz, for his part, says that Magic Leap isn’t like Oculus, in that it’s not truly a VR experience. Nor is it an augmented reality situation, he claims, since it goes well beyond that and provides truly integrated, 3D digital objects that looks as though they were physical objects, alongside the real world. He likens Magic Leap compared to other AR-type tech to a situation whereby, if you’d come to see the Wright Brothers fly their original airplane in 1903, only to learn that someone else was building a jet in the next hangar over.

Google is a key investment partner here, and Google’s Sundar Pichai, who leads Android and Chrome, will join Magic Leap’s board as part of the deal. Qualcomm Executive Chairman Paul Jacobs and Google VP of Corporate Development will as join the board in observatory capacity, so you can tell the industry will be watching what Magic Leap can do closely. Abovitz says that contrary to some speculation, however, this isn’t just about adding a feature to Google Glass – in fact, he says they’re completely separate and unrelated projects, and will remain so, though he did say Magic Leap springs from a belief that we spend too much time looking at our phones and not enough looking at the world, which is similar to Sergey Brin’s stated motivation in creating Glass.

Magic Leap should become more of a known quantity with a consumer launch “relatively soon” per Abovitz, and the investment is going to be focused specifically into product development, which can be pricey when you’re building hardware. He also says that while he admires Oculus Rift’s ‘iterate in the open’ product development strategy, Magic Leap will not be going down the same path, so it’s possible than when we see product revealed it’ll be available for general consumption shortly after. Whatever comes out of Magic Leap, it’s bound to be worth watching, given how much money and attention it has garnered from some of the smartest and most successful minds across computing, film and technology thus far.

PhotoMath

PhotoMath from MicroBLINK on Vimeo.

Move Unity packages to C:\Program Files (x86)\Unity\Editor\Standard Packages or in OS X, /Applications/Unity/Editor/Standard Packages

Gallery Space! at Jay Street

https://drive.google.com/a/nyu.edu/file/d/0B81ZASjL-UGaZ2dDekxzd0ZYWGFMX2hheU5yUS1GUkhTVVJr/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/a/nyu.edu/file/d/0B81ZASjL-UGaLWg0MGVqVnVCdmlvSHh3QVllZVFSZVRYdF9J/view?usp=sharing

API for the Internet of Things

http://www.pubnub.com/

A very useful resource!

track me!

Stopping the Spread of Ebola through Augmented Reality

http://www.ardirt.com/general-news/stopping-the-spread-of-ebola-through-augmented-reality.html#sthash%2EewdKzlw0%2Edpuf

Stopping the Spread of Ebola through Augmented Reality

October 16, 2014 By Joseph Rampolla 1 Comment

• 
• 1
   EmailShare
• SHAREBAR

The headlines pound away at us day after day with ominous news.  Ebola has the potential to spread around the globe through rapid transport on airplanes, trains and automobiles.  The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other health experts do not recommend shutting down air travel from West Africa. “If you try to shut down air travel and sea travel, you risk affecting to a huge extent the economy, people’s livelihoods and their ability to get around without stopping the virus from traveling,” said Greg Hartl, a World Health Organization spokesperson.

In a recent poll, a majority of Americans believe air travel restrictions are a necessity to stop the spread of Ebola in the United States. In fact, 56 percent said the federal government should bar those who have “recently” been in Ebola nations from entering the U.S.  It is obvious we must find better ways to use technology to our advantage to detect people who are showing symptoms of the virus.  This is where augmented reality and wearable technology can improve our detection rate of sick people stricken with Ebola.

Currently Ebola screening is taking place at five United States airports: Newark, Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Washington.  US government officials claim that 95% of travels from West Africa would go through those airports to enter the United States.  Once a traveller passed a screener check-point, they would be free to enter the US without being monitored after that point.

Recent promising technology developments show that thermal imaging devices can be attached to smartphones for use.  Common sense would dictate that if we can leverage thermal imaging devices on smartphones that we can also use Augmented Reality (AR) wearable glasses for the same use.  Meta Space Glasses, Vuzix, Epson, Google Glass and a host of other new wearable AR glasses could create an incredible opportunity to detect people with fevers that may be contagious with the Ebola virus just by looking at them with this promising technology.

FLIR One has an attachable device for the iPhone 5S that can turn it into a thermal imagine device for $349.99. That alone is impressive.  This is a tangible use that is already on the market.  Redesigning an Augmented Reality use would not be an impossible feat.  A key feature, according to some online reviews of the FLIR One, is that the device can determine the temperature of a person or object in view.

I am not an expert in thermal imaging, but current technology should be able to develop an alert of a temperature on a person that exceeds 99 degrees Fahrenheit.  If my Augmented Reality thermal imaging glasses detect a person with a heat signature of over 99 degrees Fahrenheit, a digital overlay alert pop-up could appear in front of my eyes.  Border Patrol agents, police officers, medical professionals, school officials, and other vital stakeholders could easily monitor areas all over the country and world to be quickly alerted to someone who has a high fever.  Many civilians would buy the device just to protect their own family!  Medical teams could quickly identify someone who may be infected with the Ebola virus.

This is an incredible opportunity to finally show how Augmented Reality, coupled with other cutting-edge technologies can save countless lives.  This solution can permeate throughout the United States and the world.  If we look at computer security, a firewall alone is not the best defense to prevent a computer virus.  An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) , along with a firewall, can detect suspicious traffic within a computer network and thwart a serious breach of security.  AR thermal imaging glasses tweaked with accurate temperature alerts can be our Ebola IDS system which we desperately need.

The clock is ticking and we need to think outside the box to protect our communities and our families.  The Augmented Reality community is an international group that has been pushing AR in a positive direction.  It is our moment to shine and step up in this challenging time in history.  The future of humanity may depend on it.

——–

[Update 10/18/14] – Augmented Legality Expert Brian Wassom responds to this article and discusses some of the legal ramifications of scanning someone with a thermal imaging device. Click HERE for his legal insight.

Brian Wassom also alerted me to a new thermal imaging device that rivals the FLIR One called the Seek Thermal Infared camera for smartphones for $199. Thanks to Twitter user @seeingwithsound. Wired.com reviews the device.  What is interesting is that you can set the device to scan for skin temperatures of humans.

AR expert Frank Maggiore also advised me of the IR-Blue DM which also “connects using Bluetooth to your iPhone or Android device to show the temperature readings as colors on the screen” for $195.  This clearly shows there are new options of devices on both Android and iOS to potentially use to stop Ebola.

Image Credit: Flickr By spcbrass

- See more at: http://www.ardirt.com/general-news/stopping-the-spread-of-ebola-through-augmented-reality.html#sthash%2EewdKzlw0%2Edpuf - See more at: http://www.ardirt.com/general-news/stopping-the-spread-of-ebola-through-augmented-reality.html#sthash%2EewdKzlw0%2Edpuf

cover of time magazine

Oct 16 -- AR in Manufacturing, a webinar hosted by the IEEE Standards Association

Hello,

On Thursday Oct 16 I’ll be presenting about the use of AR in Manufacturing in a webinar hosted by the IEEE Standards Association. This webinar is part of the AR in Your Future series. Learn more about the series on this page: http://standards.ieee.org/innovate/ar/future.html

During the one hour WebEx session I’ll describe where and why AR can be valuable in manufacturing processes and describe pilots and prototype projects that are demonstrating its value to enterprises around the world.

To learn more about what this session covers, please visit: bit.ly/119MMWq

To attend the live event or be notified when the recording is available, complete the WebEx registration form: http://bit.ly/10pruni

Thank you in advance for sharing this invitation with colleagues and other networks for whom this could be of interest.

We look forward to your participation!

Christine

RoomAlive Brings your Living Room to Life

http://www.augmentedrealitytrends.com/augmented-reality/roomalive.html

RoomAlive Brings your Living Room to Life

Oct 09, 2014Bridget Wilson+Augmented Reality0

“Illumiroom” concept which was displayed by Microsoft at the CES last year had gained quite some popularity. Now the research team of Microsoft has come up with a new concept which is more complicated than the earlier one. They have created “RoomAlive”, which will bring your living room to life with augmented reality. Your room will turn into an interactive space with this creation. So what is in store for the users with this new creation? Let us have a look at this post to know more about RoomAlive.

Read Also – Camelot Partners with Blippar for AR Christmas Scratch-cards

How is it Different from Illumiroom?

Illumiroom extended the field of view for a typical video game. A video was displayed using a projection system that was attached to the Xbox. This extended the games from a TV to the adjacent walls, thereby creating a larger image on the floors and the walls.

However, RoomAlive is more complicated than Illumiroom and it will make the users move from their couch so that they can interact with the surroundings which are displayed on different surfaces and on the furniture.

How does it Work?

This proof-of-concept demo combines projectors and Kinect sensors to create an augmented reality experience that will make the living room interactive. Users can interact with games across any surfaces of the room or they can also stretch out and strike the objects from a game. The position of the gamers’ head is tracked by RoomAlive using the 6 Kinect sensors and the content is then displayed across the room in a relevant way. The system can work anywhere as it can detect the walls and floor of the room automatically.

Still a Long Way to Go

Right now the Kinect sensors and the video projectors used in RoomAlive are quite large for living rooms and they are also quite expensive for commercial use. So, it is still a long way to go before such a concept can be turned into reality. Microsoft is envisioning a future where RoomAlive will have a lower cost and will be smaller in size.

According to a spokesperson of Microsoft Research, “There’s still lots to explore with RoomAlive as a gaming platform.” Microsoft imagines a future of gaming where physical objects can be used as a part of a virtual game.

What do you think?

Do you think this is a cool concept developed by Microsoft? Are you aware of Illumiroom? Share your views in the comments.

Image Source – theverge.com

National Parks Now, a competition >>> AR?????????

Hey guys-
This is a "perfect" for a final class project

Deadline to apply is Thursday, October 30.

We recently launched National Parks Now, a competition with the National Park Service which challenges multidisciplinary teams to rethink the visitor experience at four national parks in the New York region. I’m writing to invite you to apply, or to forward this opportunity to anyone you think would be interested. As the National Park Service prepares to celebrate its centennial in 2016, the competition will generate strategies for attracting diverse audiences, telling new stories, and engaging the next generation of visitors, using these four sites as case studies for similar parks nationwide.  In November, four multidisciplinary teams will receive $15,000 to participate in a six-month research and design process to produce a broad range of experiential and engagement strategies that allow people to explore each site in more open-ended, customizable ways. At the end of this process, one winning team will receive an additional $10,000 to prototype one of their strategies, which will be implemented at their site next summer. Teams are strongly encouraged to include expertise in fields such as architecture and landscape architecture; education; graphic, game, and interactive design; exhibition and film production; sociology, anthropology, and history; marketing and communications; and the environmental sciences. Team leads must be early career professionals with professional degrees obtained within the last ten years. Please visit www.vanalen.org/nationalparksnow for more information and to download the Request for Qualifications (RFQ). Thanks very much,

If you are on Windows and Unity -force-opengl crashes...

Make sure you're not using integrated graphics. If your laptop has a dedicated gfx card, tell your NVIDIA or ATI driver to run Unity using dedicated gfx.

unity to metaio

The video unity to metaio
This video covers basic tracking, animation and GUI, and simple movement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkww9vDOyTM&index=3&list=UUlrczoVF7RBBJc2MQaJreDw


Also download the unitypackage for the video. here is the dropbox link https://www.dropbox.com/s/fgd784ejjnhd36i/AR_CLASS.unitypackage?dl=0

For windows users, please setup the environment. Here is metaios the tutorial: http://dev.metaio.com/sdk/getting-started/unity3d/setting-up-the-development-environment/

Configuration of Unity Editor on Windows

The Metaio SDK requires OpenGL to render the camera image, but Unity defaults to using DirectX on Windows. You have to change this by right-clicking your shortcut to Unity (on your desktop or in the start menu) and opening its Properties. Then add the parameter -force-opengl after the command line that ends with "Unity.exe", e.g. like so:

1. dev.metaio.com
login

2. Download the Metaio SDK -
   

once downloaded – double click



3. on the same webpage > top menu bar
my apps



Name it under
App registration



App name



App identifier



4.once u have named it
you can click it which will give u the signature-



copy it






------------------------
Unity



5. Open Unity-



6. Create a new project



7. In the projects window- right click on assets
and choose to
Import package- custom package



find the package you downloaded



find the _Unity folder inside
inside that select the
"metaioSDK_unitypackage" to upload



3:00 mins



------------------------



8. next - import again



right click on assets/ Import package - custom package



"Character Controller"



------------------------



9. next - import again



right click on assets
and choose to
Import package - custom package
Get this from the dropbox



"AR_Class_Unitypackage"






------------------------
test it-






10. in the assets/ AR_Class/ example1/ scenes
example1 <--- click on it



the example1 scene will load



test it by pressing the
play button
and holding the metaio man marker in front of your webcam.









------------------------



Delete everything form the old scene



----------------------






11. in assets/ metaio/ prefab / metaioSDK
load it






Delete the main camera



----------------------






12. [with metaio sdk selected]



in the inspector
SDK Signature- copy paste it into the signature field.



select source- choose streaming assets









----------------------



13. find the tracking data file



assets/streamassets/ tracking data






under tracking data



open tracking data
its an xml file



find the reference imgae [line 117]



<referenceimgae>target.png</ReferenceImage>






****If you want to replace the trackign image you must update the xml file. in this case
replace "target.png"

metaio sdk selected
add the trackign config file- [under streaming assets]
click on the circle next to the field






14. now in the



Metaio/ prefabs/ metaioTracker



drag the metaioTracker in the hierarchy under the
Metaio SDK



The metaioTracker is a virtual component of for the tracking image.






everything under the metaioTracker in the  hierarchy will be rendered when tracking.



----------------------






15. add 3d content
assest/ar_class/resources/prefab/ unity worker



drag the unity worker under the metaioTracker






16. add a light






------------------------



------------------------



now try example 2 buttons



1. open exapmle 2-
launch the project






2. with the unity worker selected - in the inspector
you will need to add animation.



go to
"add component"



type "animation"



open the animation tab



size = 4



------------------------



3. now 4 element fields will appear



click on the camera next to them and navigate to the individual animations-
you have to connect these to the animation loops- dont thru a pop up window






------------------------






4. Again



under animation go to
"add component"



add the



"AnimationManager" script - premade
[take a look and open the script]
this contains the 4 buttons
each button will control an animation.






------------------------









Example 3



walk around



1. same scene as 2



but



[with unity worker still selected inthe inspector]



when adding animation



add only 2 for size



for the elements add
element 0 = idle
element 1 = walk



-----



under character behavior (script)



in the script field add-
"CharacterBehavior"

intervention now

http://animalnewyork.com/2014/ski-2esae/

WATCH GRAFFITI ARTISTS TAKE BACK ENTIRE SUBWAY CAR FROM ADVERTISERS

By Aymann Ismail | October 2, 2014 - 01:00PM

“Advertisers have been stealing graffiti tactics for years,” says long-time graffiti writer 2ESAE. SKI adds, “We’re not allowed to paint trains anymore. Who knew that years later… f@cking Target could have a full car?”

SKI is referring to the time when the MTA first let a brand wrap an ad entirely around a subway car in 2010. Now, it’s not uncommon to see them taken over by an ad campaign, inside and out. ANIMAL followed the two graffiti artists as they hijacked a J train car at around 3AM, and replaced the ads with their own art in between the time it took to go from one stop to another.

“We’re not trying to sell you something. We’re trying to tell you something,” SKI says. The collaborative duo has made a shift from the streets to the gallery. Their new art exhibit opens tonight in SoHo and it’s all about “the notion that although one’s environment doesn’t change, the way one sees it and what we make of it does, through our experiences.”

If anything, the takeover was definitely cathartic in the face of the bombastic clutter of ever-present subway ads. As SKI says, “Dr Zizmor. Why is that @@@@ on the train for my whole life?” Some things never change.

“Product of UR Environment,” SKI and 2ESAE, POP International Galleries, SoHo. Opening reception October 2nd, 7pm-10pm. Open to the public October 3rd. (Video, photos: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)

Prime Location for Intervention Homework >> Hong Kong Protests

Prime Location for Intervention Homework >> Hong Kong Protests going on right now