Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice

Konstruct generative augmented reality art for iOS
If you have an artistic temperament, but you weren't blessed with steady hands or an eye for color, Konstruct might be the app for you. Not only does the iPhone app let you produce generative art using words, warbles and whistles, but it also uses augmented reality to bring your artistic creation to life.

To get started, you first need to print out the Konstruct marker and place it wherever you'd like to create your AR sculpture -- it could be on your living room wall, or on the floor of your bathroom, it doesn't matter. Open the app, point your iPhone at the marker, and start making some noises! Once you're done, you can save your creation, or simply wipe the slate clean and start again.

The volume of your voice affects the size of the shapes that are drawn on the screen, and you can move your head around to alter the path of your 'brush' -- but to change the shape of your brush or modify the color palette you have to use a menu. Without knowledge of the app's internal workings, it's hard to say what the actual difference between whistling, talking and singing is -- and judging by the developer's affinity for whistling in the demo video (after the break), the app probably doesn't perform that much analysis on your input.

Still, Konstruct is just a prototype! A later version could do away with menus and rely entirely on the location, tonality, quality and amplitude of your voice -- and judging by the the words of the developer, James Alliban, there is definitely more in store for Konstruct: "The idea of transforming entire cities into user generated virtual art galleries really appeals to me. I see Konstruct as an early prototype that will hopefully be realised in this form in the future."

Download Konstruct for free from the App Store (iPhone 3GS and 4 only)

[Thanks to Richard for the tip!]

Continue reading Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice

Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/konstruct-for-ios-creates-generative-augmented-reality-art-with/

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Despite A Flux Of New Titles, Zynga Still Focusing On Building Out New Features For Existing Games

cityvilleSocial gaming giant Zynga has been churning out new titles over the past four months, including Mafia Wars 2, Adventure World, The Pioneer Trail, Empires & Allies, and Hanging with Friends. And we know that developing new hits is a big part of Zynga's business model. Zynga reported that profits were down in Q2 of this year because of the lack of any new game launches in the first half of 2011. But of late, the social gaming company has also been focusing its efforts on some of its existing games, such as CityVille. Of course, Zynga has an incentive to keep CityVille, which launched last year as way for game players to build their dream city from the ground up, and FarmVille, which launched in 2009, are still two of the gaming giant's more popular games. CityVille has a whopping 74 million monthly active users, and FarmVille has around 35 million monthly active users. But as mentioned above, Zynga also faces the hard fact that new games bringing in more money and new players. There's clearly a balance that needs to be struck between developing fresh titles as well as rejuvenating existing games. And Zynga is trying to find that balance.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/gzf1XuhQJfs/

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iPhone 4S preorders open up at 3AM ET -- are you ready? (Update: They're live!)


It's been a tumultuous week for Apple followers, but the earliest opportunity to snag the company's new slab opens up in just a few hours. Without an extended review, we've done what we can by asking Siri to understand our most random queries, breaking down the costs / benefits, and even leaving it up to the masses. Decision time is upon us, so if you've just got to be first to order an iPhone 4S then either make it a late night or set an early alarm for 3AM ET -- we'll do you one more solid by linking up the US and Canadian carrier pages below (other international providers have only listed notification sign ups so far, but don't worry, we've got them here too.)

Update: And they're off! As of a few minutes after 3, all the US carrier's sites are taking preorders as well as Vodafone in the UK, although word is AT&T and Sprint's servers are overloaded so be patient. The Apple store went down for updates around midnight (ET) and is still down, but we'll update again once it's open for business.

Update 2: At 3:43AM, Apple.com is finally back up although you'll still need some luck getting through at this point.

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iPhone 4S preorders open up at 3AM ET -- are you ready? (Update: They're live!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/L5D7IsHZzps/

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Internet Explorer 9 nears 4% share on Windows 7, IE6 extinction countdown picks up steam

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Microsoft has shared some news about the state of its most and least loved Web browsers -- Internet Explorer 9 and 6, respectively. Even with IE9 only recently exiting beta, Microsoft reports that 3.6% of Windows 7 users are now running the new browser (no mention of Vista... what's with that?). The post also reveals that the adoption rate is almost five times what IE8 garnered in the early going.

It's also interesting to note that there are now more than 1,000 sites utilizing Internet Explorer 9's Windows 7 integration features -- like the new desktop notification support we showed you in Hotmail.

But perhaps the best news of all is that Microsoft's IE6countdown.com now has more than 400 partners and is generating nearly two million pageviews per month, helping to lure users away from the woefully out-of-date browser. Can the end come soon enough, DS readers?

Internet Explorer 9 nears 4% share on Windows 7, IE6 extinction countdown picks up steam originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/internet-explorer-9-nears-4-share-on-windows-7-ie6-extinction/

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Motorola Xoom Family Edition pops up at retail sporting kid-friendly software

Now that Motorola's Xoom is ready to rock out on 4G LTE connections, the only thing missing from the original 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet is a nice suite of edutainment software... wait, what? Whether or not that's what you asked for, it appears to be what Motorola's giving you judging by this "Family Edition" branded Xoom that just showed up at a big box electronics store. While there's still no hint of the subwoofer-equipped Xoom 2 Media Edition that's been rumored, this model is differentiated by the addition of a Kid Mode with $40 of software for kids from Zoodles (trailer after the break) packed-in. We don't have a release date or official pricing yet, but we'd expect to see the MZ505 on shelves sooner rather than later, but for now just check out a few more pics in the gallery below.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading Motorola Xoom Family Edition pops up at retail sporting kid-friendly software

Motorola Xoom Family Edition pops up at retail sporting kid-friendly software originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/psNoU0NymFI/

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Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

I?ve been accused of being an Apple fangirl, but you?d be surprised to know that I?m a recent convert.  There were years that I had nothing but contempt for Apple products.  I thought they were over-priced and ugly.  I thought people who said you could just open them up and get down to work were [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/10/06/standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants/

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Mozilla publishes name and shame list of slow Firefox add-ons, cracks down on tardy devs

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Mozilla, continuing its year-long crusade to speed up Firefox startup and shutdown times, has published a name and shame list of the Firefox's slowest add-ons.

The list is just one part of Mozilla's new efforts to highlight slow add-ons, and to help developers make their add-ons more efficient. Over the next two weeks, 'slow performance warnings' will be introduced in the add-on gallery so that users can see, before installation, which add-ons will slow down their browser. If that isn't enough to spur developers into cleaning up their add-ons, Mozilla has also begun reaching out to developers of slow add-ons with tips on how to improve add-on performance. Finally, add-on developers will soon have the ability to perform 'on-demand performance testing,' so that they can test their add-on before it's deployed publicly.

Mozilla reports that the average Firefox add-on slows down Firefox's start-up time by 10% -- which means, if you install 10 add-ons, you will double your start-up time. On fast desktop PCs that kind of slowdown might be negligible, but on older computers, laptops and smartphones, it could be the difference between a 5 and 10 second startup. Mozilla has obviously realized that while massive performance gains might've been made with Firefox 4, the addition of third-party add-ons can destroy any user-perceived improvements.

In other news, Mozilla says that a future build of Firefox will block the installation of add-ons (such as toolbars) by third-party software. Add-ons and toolbars that are bundled in this way will require explicit approval when you next open up Firefox. Hooray!

Mozilla publishes name and shame list of slow Firefox add-ons, cracks down on tardy devs originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/mozilla-publishes-name-and-shame-list-of-slow-firefox-add-ons/

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YouTube Launches Movie Rentals For The UK

Screen Shot 2011-10-07 at 15.56.59YouTube has rolled out its movie rental service in the UK. Youtube.com/moviesnow features over a thousand feature films including The Dark Knight and Reservoir Dogs alongside British classics like Monty Python?s The Meaning of Life and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The UK is the third country to get the service, following the US and Canada. Prices for the films range from £2.49 to £3.49. Users have 30 days to watch the movies rented and then have 48 hours to finish the movie.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/IOOk9lNafaw/

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Monkeys Can Move A Touch-Sensitive Virtual Limb Using Only Their Thoughts [Video]

Using monkeys as test subjects, researchers from Duke University Medical Center are laying down the foundation for a new class of brain-controlled, touch-sensitive prosthetic limbs. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/pPz754J4WEg/monkeys-can-move-a-touch+sensitive-virtual-limb-using-only-their-thoughts

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