People fundamentally distrust magicians. And they should. The illusions they proffer are just that, illusions meant to astound rather than tangible interactions and results that have weight and meaning in our real world. Our lizard brains know this, and, no matter what the out ...more
This week's FIGRR is all about games that are old-new (or new-old, if you like) school. Each celebrates a different vital, yet largely taken for granted, aspect of video game history in the decidedly new-school world of indie games. Their titles betray them. Blocks That Matter ...more
Reach new levels of creepiness in your origami hobby by learning how to tuck and fold this origami Jack in the Box. The origami project takes an afternoon to make (the video itself is about an hour long) but the priceless expression on the face of your friend (who happens to h ...more
If you caught the Grammys over the weekend, the most memorable (and scarring) moment was probably Lady Gaga's "egg-cellent" performance of her hit new single, "Born This Way". Surely, Little Monsters everywhere were fascinated when Lady Gaga came on stage entrapped in a large ...more
Microsoft's new mobile operating system is officially out on the market, and programmers are hard at work developing new mobile apps for Windows Phone 7 devices. But there's a lot going on in this new platform, which means there's a whole lot to be learned, and the only man in ...more
Artist Sascha Nordmeyer presents her concept Communication Prosthesis as the “ultimate communication tool,” or the solution to self-expression. Once inserted into the subject's mouth, the prosthesis forces strange (and horrific) expressions. They look like those red candy wax ...more
Simba from "The Lion King" couldn't have done it better himself. In this video tutorial you'll learn how to sketch out a very realistic lion head held in a bemused expression. Whether you love lions or find them frightening, drawing this lion head is an excellent way to gain k ...more
Two characters from the popular sci-fi animated comedy Rick and Morty have already made their way into augmented reality courtesy of ARKit experiments. Now, it's possible to become one of them on the iPhone X. Developer Michael Bramiage has created an Animoji-style version of ...more
Today's word is "nuance". This is a noun which means a subtle degree of difference in meaning and expression. For example, you can say, "To truly understand the nuances between synonyms, you often have to see how those similar words are used in various situations."
Watch this fine art video tutorial to learn how to master drawing a fearful eye in two minutes. In two minutes you will be able to draw the expression of fear in the eye. "Notice that a fearful eye features a distinct gap between the iris and the top eyelid. This separation i ...more
This is my first tutorial on this website. So, if you think anything to be wrong, just place it in the comments. First of all, it was pretty disappointing to see that there is nothing on 'Cryptocurrency' on Null Byte, owing to the fact that how convenient, digital, anonymous ...more
This may seem like an odd subject, because what do Steampunks and iPhones even have to do with each other? Actually, more than you might think! With the recent release of iOS 6 and the iPhone 5, I thought it was time to show how they relate to Steampunk. Photo by Robert S. Do ...more
If you want to add some great effects to your videos and make some dramatic changes, you can do so by using Adobe After Effects. You will see how you can morph one part on a video, to transform a facial expression to turn into a demon face. You will get tips on how to achieve ...more
Waking up can be a real struggle for some people. Alarms help, but most of them are so easy to turn off that you can shut them off while you're still half asleep and go back to bed, only to wake up in a panic as your realize you've severely overslept. Microsoft Garage wants to ...more
This video slide show tutorial gives a step-by-step guide to scissoring a poodle topknot. 1. After clipping the face against the grain with a close blade, the line is first scissored from the outside corner of the eye to the top of the base of the ear. 2. Scissor over the top ...more
In the previous section of this series on dynamic user interfaces for HoloLens, we learned about delegates and events. At the same time we used those delegates and events to not only attach our menu system to the users gaze, but also to enable and disable the menu based on cer ...more
MSQRD (aka Masquerade), the popular iOS app that lets you put silly faces on top of selfies, is finally making its way over to Android. MSQRD hasn't been released on the Google Play Store yet, but you can download the beta APK here, courtesy of APK Mirror. (Update: it's now o ...more
In the world of breakfast, a great trench of injustice divides French toast and pancakes. Just look at the average brunch menu. While pancakes are treated to a wealth of variety (chocolate chip, silver dollar, blueberry, banana, and even some with pop culture references), Fren ...more
In the arms race between ARKit and ARCore, Google scored a big win with the announcement of its Cloud Anchors shared AR experiences platform at Google I/O on Tuesday. A developer session held on Wednesday offered more detail on how multi-user experiences built via Cloud Ancho ...more
The prank is one of the most cherished traditional forms of expression around the world, from Japan to the Middle East to the good ol' US of A. Without them, how would people settle their disputes with one another while having a good laugh at the same time? Every time a new ph ...more
Although most religions have inspired a variety of art, Buddhism seems to have a special relationship with the arts. Something about the endless circle of birth and rebirth seems to intrigue the minds of artists. Of course even if the art is not directly related to Buddhism, t ...more
Cross-dressing and gender-bending are nothing new, but the realm of Steampunk seems to be especially accepting of role-reversal in dress. As steampunk grows into an entity unto itself, we are seeing issues such as multiculturalism and erotica being addressed. This expansion o ...more
Join Bruce Blitz as he teaches you one of his favorite sketches. This cartoon expression will make you laugh out loud. All you need to create this cartoon of a laughing person is pad of paper, pencil, marker, colored chalks or colored pencils, and an eraser. Using your pencil, ...more
Beta testing for Apple's big upcoming iPhone update, iOS 13, is well underway. So far, each of the four beta versions we've seen brought new features and changes to the table, many of which were never even mentioned by Apple during WWDC in June. Now, it's time to do it all ove ...more
Oftentimes female style and tradition in the Middle East leaves little room for self-expression. This is where makeup comes in. Women covering their heads and bodies can personalize their look by applying dramatic makeup to their faces. Check out this tutorial and learn how to ...more
Facebook may have shamelessly copied Snapchat and its camera effects for faces (as well as its World Lenses), but it might beat its social media competitor to virtual body augmentation. The AI Camera Team at Facebook has developed a method for detecting body poses and separat ...more
Here is a cool trick that you can use to impress your friends with next time. This video is going to teach you how to give your dollar bill a smile or a frown. Learn how to change the president's emotionless expression with just a few special folds and creases. You can use an ...more
This clip will show you how to do a picture-in-picture inside of Premiere Pro CS3 or later. Use this technique to start stacking your videos in a vertical fashion as well as opening new creative doors for your expression! Whether you're new to Adobe's popular non-linear editor ...more
This is a special four-part series on the human head, neck and skull. Medical students can greatly benefit from watch this anatomy video series. Dr. Gita Sinha "dissects" all of the information pertaining to the head and neck. Dr. Sinha is Assistant Professor for the Departmen ...more
Today we pay homage to a phenomenon. One as diffuse and amusing as the internet itself, and as pointless as dog Halloween costumes. I'm speaking, of course, of giant games. Not Supergiant Games, makers of the forthcoming and awesome-looking indie RPG Bastion, but giant games ...more
Sometimes I forget that I'm also a fiction writer, so I thought it might be a nice change of pace to share one of my stories with you. I wrote this piece awhile ago for an anthology that never came together and I'm tired of just sitting on it. It's one of the more odd stories ...more
Despite hints hidden in internal iOS 13 code, Apple did not unveil its long-rumored smartglasses at its annual iPhone launch event on Tuesday. But the company did continue to move in the direction of AR wearables. Here's how... Don't Miss: Here's What You Need to Run ARKit 3 ...more
Video: . IF function This article describes the formula syntax and usage of the IFfunction in Microsoft Excel. Description The IF function returns one value if a condition you specify evaluates to TRUE, and another value if that condition evaluates to FALSE. For example, the ...more
Talk about unconventional Halloween costumes. Forget hot vampires and hot werewolves; it's all about sexy moths this Halloween. But rather than going with cheesy wings and antennae, we're talking deep, sunken eyes with eyebrows that extend out into moth-like wings and black li ...more
Amazingly, a lot of people I know haven't even heard of SOPA or PIPA. Now, every English-reading person with an internet connection will finally have those two four-letter acronyms emblazoned in their minds. For the entire day today, Wikipedia's English-language site will be i ...more
The 15-year-old star of the 1980s-inspired hit series Stranger Things, Millie Bobby Brown, may have (spoiler alert) lost all her powers as the character "Eleven," but in the real world, she still has augmented reality in her arsenal. The young science fiction icon has release ...more
If tradition holds, we're roughly one month away from Apple's big iPhone announcement. While we're excited to see what will mainly be a significant camera upgrade, it's not all about the hardware. Apple will also release the official version of iOS 13 to coincide with the iPho ...more
As one of the leading makers of processors for smartphones, Qualcomm further bolstered its place in the market with the announcement of the Snapdragon 865 earlier this week. On Thursday, the company took yet another step towards the future of augmented reality headsets and sm ...more
This graffiti/drawing tutorial finally gives spraycans, the weapon of choice of graffiti artists everywhere, the respect they deserve. With the power to make a beautiful picture on what would otherwise be an ugly concrete wall or to create a sociopolitical statement that chang ...more
This little bad boy is lots of fun, but I'm not sure I'd hold it up to my ear in public... especially wearing creator Junior Tan's menacing facial expression. The best part about the iPhone revolver? There's a HowTo. Junior Tan created his Ruger LCR Revolver iPhone case usin ...more
Just in time for the release of Pixar's highly anticipated sequel, AR Emoji based on characters from The Incredibles 2 have arrived for Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+. Originally announced at the launch of Samsung's latest flagship devices, Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Violet, Dash ...more
Welcome back! In our last training session, we covered some advanced list topics. We'll be going deeper into the advanced list rabbit hole today with lambda and lambda operators! (And I'm not talking about Gordan Freeman) We'll start by explaining lambda and giving an example ...more
Remember that scene in Tim Burton's Batman where the Joker and his goons defaced dozens of priceless works of art? A collective of digital artists have found a less criminal, more geeky way to do the same thing. Now through May 3, the Jackson Pollock wing of the Museum of Mod ...more
In this video, Joe Wilson, executive director of TOONSEUM explains how to draw a sasquatch. He starts with the eyes, by drawing a B letter on it’s side. Next he draws a pair of pupils and eyebrows. Next, he creates a nose, and a mouth. In order to make the sasquatch look angry ...more
In the first part of this After Effects tutorial, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to create a customized, sound-reactive waveform using a stroke, a distortion effect and an expression. One reason you may want to do this is if you need a rounded wave (ie: a sine wave). Once you ...more
While new features in Safari, Camera, Photos, Notes, Weather, Messages, and other Apple apps may steal the show on iOS 17, there are some impressive new features you need to know about when it comes to FaceTime audio and video calls. A step beyond mere upgrades, Apple nudges ...more
35-year-old artist from Shandong, China, Liu Bolin, has created a series of photographs entitled "Camouflage". No trick photography employed, no photoshop alterations. Every effect was created by anal, fastidious painting and the exact alignment of subject to background. Boli ...more
My autistic son loves music. One afternoon, when he was nine, I downloaded GarageBand to his iPhone to help with the boredom of a long wait at a doctor's office. Instead of pacing or escalating into a meltdown, he spent the entire hour and a half practicing, learning, and comp ...more
Despite the fact that over 600,000 Snap Lens filters have been created since Lens Studio debuted in 2017, and Facebook is reporting that more than a billion users have interacted with its Spark AR filters across Facebook properties, social augmented reality filters get a bad r ...more
I've tried my hand in the past at defining Steampunk, but as anyone else who has made a similar attempt will tell you, there's a significant backlash from the community against working to create a real definition of what Steampunk is. That may sound ridiculous to some, but it' ...more
co23ghttoe is here to show you how to draw a manga fox girl. You first start with a circle and two lines to line up the eyes on the face. The eyes can come out looking pretty rough but with the proper use of eyebrows, it can make a "cuter" expression. You then outline the bott ...more
Apple just seeded the fourth public beta for iOS 13 to software testers today, Tuesday, July 30. AppleSeed participants saw this beta one day early, alongside the release of developer beta 5. Now, developer and public testers alike are up-to-speed with the latest in iOS 13. B ...more
When we take pictures with our smartphones, it’s safe to assume we’re taking more than one. We're either trying to capture the right light, look, or expression… or maybe a slight nod to the right to show off your good side. Whatever the case may be, taking many pictures is an ...more
Today's word is "benevolent". This is an adjective which means wanting to help others, or an expression of goodwill. For example, you can say, "Marcia's $100 donation to the children's charity was very benevolent of her."
One normally thinks of porcelain as decor or dishware for ladies who lunch, but artist Jessica Harrison has injected a horror show twist into the traditional ceramic delicacy. Via Don't Panic, the artist says: "The pieces are mass produced ceramics that I select and modify. ...more
While painting in augmented reality is not a groundbreaking pursuit, the ability for Magic Leap One, iPhone and iPad, and Android users to collaborate remotely on virtual artwork would be. That is what Across Realities is aiming to do with Spatiate, an app that launched on Th ...more
Apple's Animojis took the world by storm with their ease of use and fluidity. They added new life to your emojis by mapping your face with the technology that lives inside the iPhone X. Now, Samsung is also adding new life to emjojis with the introduction of AR Emojis in the G ...more
We all know you are what you eat—or so the expression goes—but it's good to remember that what you are (at least intestinally) is mainly bacteria. A new study has shown that what you eat, and how your gut microbiome reacts to that food, might be a key player in your risk of de ...more
A brand new Japanese prototype offers users the ability to manipulate real 3D forms, employing a touch interface with a squeezy, rubbery feel. From New Scientist: "The system is based on a large LCD panel built into a tabletop. Users interact with it by moving objects sculpt ...more
Drawing an angry mouth can be difficult. Anger tends to be a hard expression to pull off with pen & paper, so luckily there's a video out there aiming to help you! In this video, learn from fantasy artist Wayne Tully how to draw an angry mouth.