InkHunter app uses augmented reality to let you try on tattoo designs

(WXYZ) - Deciding on a tattoo can be difficult. I mean, it's understandable, because you're usually stuck with it for life. 

But now there's an app that wants to help put your mind at ease when it's decision time.

The InkHunter app helps people visualize the tattoo on their skin before they commit to the real deal. 

InkHunter uses augmented reality to let users try on a variety of tattoo designs, even sketches of their own.

The free app for iOS devices was developed by a team of people from Ukraine during a 48-hour hackathon in 2014. 

Two of the four decided to move forward with the app, according to InkHunter CEO Oleksandra Rohachova. Rohachova and the company's CTO Pavlo Razumovskyi relocated, hired two employees and started working on the app full-time.

The InkHunter app is simple to use. You just have to draw a square smile on the spot where you'd like your tattoo. Then, you open the app and hold the camera over the face.

Ma gically, your tattoo appears.

InkHunter also lets you modify the tattoo's size, contrast on your skin and even the opacity.

The CEO of InkHunter says they now have future plans for the app. 

"Our next step is to involve tattoo artists and connect them with our users - their potential clients. In doing so, our app will become a funnel which starts with people who are just thinking about having a tattoo. INK HUNTER app help them make their decision and find professional to get it done," Oleksandra Rohachova told 7 Action News in an email.

For more information, go here.

Source: InkHunter app uses augmented reality to let you try on tattoo designs

GoPro unveils powerful new cameras and an app for viewing 360-degree and VR content

Monday, action camera maker GoPro announced at The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show a pair of powerful new camera rigs in the Omni and Odyssey series alongside a new VR sharing platform and a brand new mobile application which lets you view 360-degree videos and virtual reality content hosted at vr.gopro.com on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

The new six-camera synchronized Omni rig costs five grands and packs in pro-grade features that allow pixel-level synchronization, making stitching in post-production easier and more exact than using unsynchronized camera arrays.

Pricing for the more capable panoramic stereoscopic 16-camera Odyssey rig, which is optimized to work with Google's Jump VR Platform, will be out of the reach for most people unless they create professional VR content for a living.

The company will also showcase its full suite of professional end-to-end solutions for capturing, stitching and publishing high-resolution virtual reality content at NAB 2016, which runs April 18-21 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Omni

The Omni sports proprietary hardware and software that makes possible pixel-level synchronization between its six HERO4 Black cameras, and works with the Kolor stitching software to produce immersive content.

Key highlights include:

Six cameras act as one: Interact with the primary camera in the array to configure settings or initiate the start/stop of recording for all six cameras.

The proven image quality of the HERO4 Black…times six: Produce high-res images that virtual reality viewers will notice. Omni may also be used for "over capture"; capture at 8K and extract an HD deliverable.

Optimized workflow: capture using Omni, use GoPro Omni Importer for preview, data management and rendering, fine tune the content in Kolor Autopano Video, then proof the content in GoPro VR player and publish it to the GoPro VR website.

By collaborating with Adobe, GoPro further solves the pain points of editing spherical content by enabling native handling of 360-degree video up to 8K resolution within Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Adobe After Effects CC.

GoPro will be selling an all-inclusive $5,000 Omni package that will include a GoPro Omni Sync Rig, the Kolor software license, six on-board GoPro HERO4 Black cameras and batteries, a GoPro Smart Remote, six mini USB cables to connect the cameras, 32GB microSD cards and card readers.

A more affordable $1,500 Omni package offers a GoPro Omni sync rig, a waterproof shipping case, plastic tweezers, microfiber bag and a 2.5mm hex key. If you're interested, you can sign up for pre-order at the GoPro website.

The Odyssey

The high-end Odyssey packs in as many as sixteen HERO4 Black cameras inside a rugged design. It works in tandem with Google's web-based Jump Assembler service that automatically stitches the individual videos into panoramic stereoscopic 8K30 video viewable on YouTube.

Through its newly formed custom solutions division, GoPro also introduced custom systems at NAB that integrate GoPro's camera technology and HEROCast, GoPro's wireless HD micro transmitter, into products and systems used in pro works.

You can sign up for the Odyssey Limited-Access Program at the GoPro website.

The new app

The new GoPro VR app serves as a storefront for spherical videos and virtual reality content stored on the new GoPro VR sharing platform. Users can both showcase their own original content through GoPro VR and check out community content as well.

The app offers 360-degree interactivity: you can navigate spherical videos by moving your device around and it renders content at up to a silly smooth 60 frames per second on the latest devices. Additionally, the application can be experienced on a mobile head-mounted display in split-screen VR mode.

GoPro VR is available on the web, too, but viewing spherical videos is not yet supported by Safari. Here's one such 360-degree video (use desktop Chrome and ASWD keys to move the view around).

More videos like this can be found on GoPro's channel on YouTube.

The English-only GoPro VR application requires an iOS device with iOS 9.0 or later and is now available at no charge in the App Store.

You can download GoPro VR for iOS on the App Store.

GoPro likes Apple execs and iPhone apps

Last week, a longtime member of Apple's closely-knit elite industrial design team, designer Danny Coster, said he was joining the action camera maker to head up a new hardware design group as the company's Vice President of Design.

GoPro recently bought powerful iPhone video-editing applications Replay and Splice.

Source: GoPro

Source: GoPro unveils powerful new cameras and an app for viewing 360-degree and VR content

GoPro Releases $5000 Virtual Reality Camera Kit, Launches VR Apps And Website

GoPro is doubling down on virtual reality: A year after announcing a camera partnership with Google, GoPro announced its own virtual reality (VR) camera kit Monday. The company also released GoPro VR apps for Android and iOS as well as a dedicated web presence for 360-degree video content.

GoPro's new Omni camera kit is based on six GoPro Hero4 cameras, and comes with a dedicated rig as well as a smart remote to control all six cameras at the same time. Omni also makes use of Kolor, a 360-degree video editing software that helps to stitch all those separate video recordings together to one spherical video. Omni is available for preorder now, but there's no word on a shipping date yet.

GoPro got its hands on Kolor when it acquired the startup by the same name a year ago. The startup's work is also key to another announcement GoPro made Monday: The company is launching a dedicated website for 360-degree video content as well as viewing apps for Android and iOS. GoPro's new VR apps allow users to watch 360-degree videos on their phones or any Google Cardboard-compatible headset.

SEE MORE: GoPro Cameras Now Work With Third-Party Apps, Accessories

Speaking of Google: GoPro was one the launch partners when Google announced its Jump VR initiative a year ago. A year in, we haven't heard  whole lot about Jump, but the two companies are apparently still working together. GoPro will showcase the 16-camera VR rig dubbed Odyssey it co-developed with Google at NAB alongside its own Omni camera this week, and both companies are still making it available to select partners.

But with a price of $15,000, it was always clear that Odyssey wasn't really for everyone — and GoPro seems to believe that its new Omni camera kit may be able to fill the gap and attract customers with a slightly smaller budget.

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Source: GoPro Releases $5000 Virtual Reality Camera Kit, Launches VR Apps And Website

GoPro Omni Challenges Virtual Reality Industry, Launches New Video App and Livestreaming Tools

GoPro is going head-to-head with the biggest names in the virtual reality industry, as they plan to launch their own line of VR products. At the same time, GoPro is simultaneously introducing their new online platform where users can livestream their motion captures online.

According to Yahoo!, GoPro will make the announcement during the NAB, National Association of Broadcasters, event in Las Vegas. They are going to introduce the all-new Omni VR camera they had promised their fans.

The Omin VR GoPro camera has a spherical content. The spherical rig was supposed to be their edge from the normal VR components currently out in the market. In their GoPro Omni VR Teaser, they stated that they want to "manipulate reality" with the tool.

Though some were skeptical with GoPro's announcement, fanatics were keen to watch out what the hardware company has come up with.

One of their other teasers was made by Tahiti Surfer Anthony Walsh who used the Omni VR while surfing. The immersive experience is what GoPro is after for in their new Omni VR line.

The Omni VR Camera aims to capture the spherical content by having "six synchronized cameras," which they call a "spherical array." From afar, the Omni VR looks like a rounded square.

The Omni VR Camera is also composed of six Hero4 cameras put together in an aluminum rig. They made it very lightweight so the users can utilize the tool while in action. The Onmi VR Camera is expected to be sold at $4,999.

With the release of the Omni VR Camera, GoPro is also launching the new GoPro VR, an online website and app platform that allows Omni VR users to showcase their work to the world. The GoPro VR apps are available in iOS and Android.

It's still hard to determine if GoPro will be able to successfully disrupt the virtual reality business. With people getting inclined with the new Oculus Rift, some competitors like Samsung's Milk VR has failed to gain traction.

At the same time, Facebook might be competing directly with GoPro's Omni VR as they plan to launch Surround 360, a VR tool aimed at getting spherical content, according to Fool.

Facebook's high-end video camera is made for 360-degrees capture. It has 17 lenses, and it is also linked to a web-based software that automatically renders videos. Just like the GoPro VR, Facebook's Surround 360 can immediately upload motion captures online.

Fool also noted that GoPro might actually have a disadvantage in this competition. Though the company is now offering the 16-camera Odyssey and the new Omni VR, GoPro is relying too much on the rigs. If they created stand-alone cameras to capture 360 content, they might get ahead of the bunch.

With the rise of 360 camera's lower-tiered competitors like Ricoh's Theta S and Kodak's PixPro SP360-4K are already winning the masses because of their user-friendly prices. Theta S is sold at $350 while Koda's PixPro is sold at $500.

GoPro's remaining advantage is their niche for outdoors motion capture. At the same time, GoPro already has camera enthusiasts vying for their products. Because of GoPro's current user base, they might have a chance.

However, analysts disagree. Though GoPro, as a company, experienced 16 percent growth in 2015, they are expecting a 15 percent drop this year. The fall was because of the "sluggish demand for action cameras and tough headwinds in the drone market."

Whether GoPro Omni VR will be a success or not, only the consumers can tell.

[Image Credit: David Becker/Getty Images]

Source: GoPro Omni Challenges Virtual Reality Industry, Launches New Video App and Livestreaming Tools

'Significant New Features' Promised In July Release Date

On Thursday, the Redmond-based software giant announced several new features and apps that will be coming as part of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. The "roadmap" for Windows 10 Business promises to bring in some new features planned for Windows 10.

Documentation published on MSDN shows that Windows 10 Mobile already supports the latest generation processors, but also upcoming models that are supposed to offer improved performance.

Windows 10 Mobile, released about a month ago, was able to deliver the promised attributes that come with the update from the carrier, more precisely the Current Branch of Windows 10 Mobile. The Windows 10 Mobile Insider Build 14322 is now available for Windows Insiders in the fast ring.

Action Center improvements. Action Center is getting a ton of updates. The idea is to bring in about as much functionality in a notification as you would have in a Live Tile.

Images are now displayed more prominently within Action Center notifications. According to CNET, the update will enable access to Cortana in apps like Skype and even while the screen is locked. Last week's Redstone PC test build was No. 14316, so this one is slightly newer. Quick Actions in the notification centre, similar to Android's Quick Settings drawer, can now be fully customised and you can drag and drop items in the list.

There are many smaller improvements, the most interesting of which is making Cortana reminders accessible to the share framework for UWP (Universal Windows) apps. Additionally, repeated notifications now do not feature the app icon. You now get individual icons for pages which makes the UI less messy. Users can change the theme from Settings Personalisation Colours.

For those having multiple devices, there will be an option to switch devices in the settings area of the messaging app. This applies more to phones that were upgraded from Windows Phone 8.1. The only devices that are exempt from this rule are those that use the Windows 10 IoT Core, such as Raspberry Pi - but it is available there, too.

Camera button on the Lock screen.

There are also a small number of known problems with this Preview Build, such as the Facebook Messenger app failing to launch and the camera app occasionally crashing when going into the camera roll.

There is an issue in which you may see duplicate apps under All apps showing as pending despite being installed and usable on your phone.

This new update will also give you many new types of Emojis.

Warriors: Steph Curry 'questionable' for Game 2 due to ankleThe Warriors ran a number of their smaller players at Harden, and then the centers protected the rim when he did attempt to drive. After the game , head coach Steve Kerr revealed in his post-game news conference that Curry is questionable for Game 2 on Monday.

Source: 'Significant New Features' Promised In July Release Date

BMW M Laptimer app gets full GoPro camera integration option

BMW M has announced the ultimate gadget for track day enthusiasts; a GoPro camera integration platform that pairs with the on-board lap timer application.

The latest BMW M cars come with an on-board lap timer app so owners can hone their driving skills and push their vehicles to the limit on the track, and keep an eye on lap time progress. Now though, it will be even easier for such fans to show off their efforts to others.

Buyers and owners will be able to apply a software update to their vehicles later this year that will see a new option to integrate GoPro cameras with the lap timer function, requiring an iOS device and WiFi.

This then will allow users to operate the camera, including hitting record and stop, remotely, as well as view the live info in regards to the camera's battery level. Information is recorded on the camera memory card like usual, but also on the device so it can be viewed on the BMW interface. Christian Schmid, senior development engineer at the BMW Group Technology Office USA, said:

"The BMW M Laptimer and GoPro integrations have both proven to be incredibly popular with driving enthusiasts. From the time that we launched the first in-car integration for a GoPro camera, bringing that integration together with the BMW M Laptimer seemed like the natural way to really enhance the track driving experience."

Other bonus features include six shooting modes, including night driving, winding road time-lapse, sport drive facing out, and leisure drive facing out. Preview images will also be possible so users can rest assured the camera is lined up properly without having to leave the cabin.

BMW will launch the interactive program with the BMW M Laptimer application during the middle of this year. It will support GoPro Hero 3 and above and iPhone 4S and above.

BMW M Laptimer GoPro

BMW M Laptimer GoPro-track

BMW M Laptimer GoPro-menu

Source: BMW M Laptimer app gets full GoPro camera integration option

GoPro seeks to extend camera range to cars, toys and apps

After GoPro's announcement, Engadget got a closer look at more than two dozen of the 100-plus partner developers. The toolkit will be for iOS and Android, and it will support camera control and camera media management. Additionally, the integration of GoPro on Fisher-Price products may help the company go in a more family-focused direction. GoPro showed off potential third-party integration ideas in a video showing a gesture-based camera control system.

"The GoPro and BMW collaboration set a new standard in the category when it launched in 2014", Adam Silver, GoPro's director of strategic product partnerships, said as part of BMW's press release.

The action camera company wanted the third-party companies have official support from them, since they have been making accessories for the camera for quite a while now.

Fisher Price is developing mounts for GoPro for a number of lines of toys for children to allow parents to capture more memories from the perspective of the child. At the San Francisco unveiling of the initiative, more than 35 firms showcased their new GoPro-integrated products.

"Over the last few years we've been excited by the creativity and enthusiasm other brands have demonstrated when integrating GoPro into their own solutions", GoPro founder and CEO Nick Woodman said in a statement, according to Tech Times.

Mounts: The program will enable developers to create reliable physical mounting / housing solutions for GoPro devices. But the developer program also has interesting implications for live video.

BMW - M-Laptimer App: A track day data acquisition and analysis suite for the enthusiast driver.

He added that the company was grateful to benefit from a collective genius of participating developers and is excited to officially support the efforts of those developers with company developer toolkits.

Periscope is another early partner of GoPro and the live streaming app owned by Twitter can now connect to cameras made by GoPro for broadcasting in higher resolution. Its latest action camera, Hero 4 Session, was a smaller version of the popular Hero 4 camera with virtually zero upgrades; this resulted in low sales and a fall in popularity.

Source: GoPro seeks to extend camera range to cars, toys and apps