Friday
Jan102020

'Birds of Prey' has shorter 108-minute runtime

Are you tired of watching films that run north of two hours all the time, especially if you're watching a superhero film? DC's upcoming flick, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), is looking to buck the trend. According to IFCO, which classifies film releases in Ireland, the film will run for 108 minutes, which is one hour and forty-eight minutes. If you consider the credits, then the film could be around one hour, forty-five minutes, which is a good length for Birds of Prey.

Lead star and producer Margot Robbie told Variety before that they are taking a non-linear, off-kilter approach to telling this tale, which is an apt approach to her character. She said, "We pulled a lot of references from the comics that we love, from different movies we love—we were really gravitating toward the idea of not having such a formulaic sort of structure, Trainspotting being of one of our favorite films. We would look at a movie like that, and then we'd break it down scene by scene, minute by minute. And funnily enough, it follows a three-act structure to the T, like, to the page, to the minute. And so we would look at a lot of films like that, like: 'How did they achieve this feeling of this beautiful chaos, but within it, everything feels satisfying?' So the non-linear aspect of the film came from those sorts of conversations... It jumps around. And then it becomes linear for the third act. You go on a ride, and it's all pretty chronological from there. It took a while to get it together, and get it approved by the studio. And then finally we got it greenlit. And we were off to the races."

Source: LRM Online

Friday
Jan102020

YouTube Music might let you upload your own music library

YouTube Music might be taking cues from what it's done with Google Play Music by letting you upload your library to the service. 9to5Google found the feature in the latest APK file of the app. New strings of code say it can have "all your songs in one place." It also talks about tracks from your album will show alongside the liked and added songs. 

The option could appear as a new tab in YouTube Music's Library section with a possible way to adjust what you see there in the settings page. The feature could look like the screenshot above, but that might not be the final form. 9to5Google believes this could also include content from Google Play Music. Google hasn't enabled this feature yet, so we're waiting for the time the company decides to do so.

Thursday
Jan092020

CES 2020: L'Oreal Perso wants to customize your skin care and makeup routines

L'Oreal Technology Incubator

The idea behind L'Oreal Technology Incubator's newest project revolves around personalization. It's even in the name itself. The L'Oreal Perso uses augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and environmental data (like weather and UV index) to mix and dispense the exact amount of product you need from three NFC-enabled cartridges. The products in these cartridges could be serum, antioxidant, and moisturizer. 

Perso uses the app first to scan your face so it can analyze your skin's condition. It will grade your skin's quality based on criteria like dark spots, radiance, sagging, wrinkles, and pore visibility. The app will also take into account your skin-care goals, like getting rid of dark spots. 

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Thursday
Jan092020

CES 2020: BMW's AR windshield concept uses your body language to understand what you want

BMW

Perhaps it's already in its name, but BMW believes we would like to expand how we interact with our vehicles. The carmaker believes it doesn't just have to be through conversation, but through our body language, gaze, and gestures as well. So, BMW showed off the i Interaction EASE at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The concept windshield for self-driving cars also analyzes the rider's nonverbal signals.

Similar to what the company unveiled last year, the concept shows a windshield overlaid with a transparent display. Through augmented reality, the windscreen can show contextual information about nearby objects. The car's eye-tracking sensors will follow your gaze and show you more information about what's captured your attention. The i Interaction EASE will need you to gesture to interact with the item further.

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