Goto

Collaborating Authors

 scan feature


Snapchat's Scan feature can identify dogs, plants, clothes, and more

#artificialintelligence

Snapchat's camera has to date mostly been associated with sending disappearing messages and goofy AR effects, like a virtual dancing hot dog. But what if it did things for you, like suggest ways to make your videos look and sound better? Or show you a similar shirt based on the one you're looking at? Starting Thursday, a feature called Scan is being upgraded and placed front and center in the app's camera, letting it identify a range of things in the real world, like clothes or dog breeds. Scan's prominent placement in Snapchat means that the company is slowly becoming not just a messaging app, but a visual search engine.


Autonomous drone maker Skydio shifts to military and enterprise with its first folding drone

#artificialintelligence

Skydio, a startup that makes autonomous drones that fly themselves with little human intervention, is entering the commercial drone market with its new X2 model. The X2 is Skydio's first non-consumer device and it's marketed toward government agencies, the military, and other organizations that require aerial surveillance or surveying, with its own built-in infrared thermal camera. The X2 announcement coincides with Skydio's new round of $100 million in funding, led by German multinational company Siemens' Next47 firm. Skydio first entered the market a little more than two years ago with the Skydio R1. The R1 was an autonomous drone that sported impressive artificial intelligence-powered obstacle avoidance and other sensors and software features that let it seamlessly fly itself through complex outdoor environments like wooded trails while following subjects.