Open Source Archives - Gizmochina

Google’s Project Gameface is Now Open-Source, Lets Users Control the Cursor with Facial Gestures or Head Movements

Anubhav — Wed, 15 May 2024 15:01:48 +0000

Google announced on Tuesday that the code for Project Gameface, its hands-free gaming “mouse” controlled by facial expressions, is now open-source for Android developers. This allows developers to integrate this accessibility feature into their apps. Users can then control the cursor with facial gestures or head movements, such as opening their mouth to move the cursor or raising eyebrows to click and drag.

Project Gameface utilizes the device camera and a facial expressions database

Project Gameface, originally announced for desktops at last year’s Google I/O, uses the device’s camera and a database of facial expressions from MediaPipe’s Face Landmarks Detection API to manipulate the cursor.

“Through the device’s camera, it seamlessly tracks facial expressions and head movements, translating them into intuitive and personalized control,” explained Google in its announcement. “Developers can now build applications where their users can configure their experience by customizing facial expressions, gesture sizes, cursor speed, and more.”

While initially designed for gamers, Google has partnered with Incluzza, a social enterprise focused on accessibility in India, to explore expanding Gameface to other settings like work, school, and social situations.

The inspiration for Project Gameface came from quadriplegic video game streamer Lance Carr, who has muscular dystrophy. Carr collaborated with Google on the project with the goal of creating a more affordable and accessible alternative to expensive head-tracking systems.

RELATED:

(Via)

The post Google’s Project Gameface is Now Open-Source, Lets Users Control the Cursor with Facial Gestures or Head Movements appeared first on Gizmochina.

Google and Qualcomm Team Up to Bring Open-Source Power to Wearables via RISC-V

Anubhav — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 14:41:47 +0000

In a move that’s definitely surprising but quite welcome, Google and Qualcomm are partnering to boost the capabilities of future wearables through RISC-V, an open-source alternative to ARM and x86 architectures. The move is designed to redefine the Wear OS landscape by leveraging RISC-V’s openness and adaptability.

RISC-V comes with a reduced need for ARM licenses

At its core, RISC-V isn’t just an alternative; it’s a game changer. It’s an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) that permits any company to craft custom cores. This is like throwing open the gates for new players and urging them to bring their fresh ideas to the table. What this means for consumers is a market rich in innovation and competition.

One of the big draws of this transition to RISC-V is the reduced need for ARM licenses. By opting for RISC-V, companies are free to make their own rules—no strings attached. This step marks a “key milestone” in integrating RISC-V CPUs with Android, Google’s popular operating system, according to Qualcomm.

Why start with wearables? Well, Google seems to believe that Wear OS is the ideal testing ground for the RISC-V innovation. Both Google and Qualcomm are in the process of creating custom CPUs that are high on performance but low on power consumption. This is particularly essential for wearables, which require both durability and speed for optimum performance.

Don’t worry if you’re a fan of ARM-based Snapdragon Wear chips; they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. Qualcomm has expressed its commitment to continue investing in its existing platforms. However, with this collaboration on RISC-V, it’s clear that there’s a new sheriff in town aiming to revolutionize the way we look at smart wearables.

RELATED:

(Via)

The post Google and Qualcomm Team Up to Bring Open-Source Power to Wearables via RISC-V appeared first on Gizmochina.

Huawei donates its open source OS ‘openEuler’

Sean — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 08:36:47 +0000

Earlier today (9th November 2021), Huawei officially announced during the Operating System Industry Summit 2021 that it will be joining hands with all of its partners in the community to formally donate its open source operating system, openEuler.

At the conference, the Chinese tech giant announced that it will be donating its openEuler operating system to the OpenAtom Foundation. For those unaware, the openEuler program was initially announced back in 2019, with the new openEuler OS being launched back in September 25. While the company’s HarmonyOS was targeted for smart terminals, IoT terminals, and industrial terminals, openEuler was aimed for servers, edge computing, and cloud infrastructure.

According to Wang Tao, Executive Director of Huawei and Director of ICT Infrastructure Business Management, stated that the company will be donating the complete source code of its open source operating system along with the brand’s trademark, community infrastructure, and other related assets to OpenAtom Foundation. As of right now, the openEuler platform’s community has brought in around 10,000 developers across nearly a hundred special interest groups, and even bringing in 300 companies.

Despite donating its open source platform, Deng Taihua, Huawei’s vice president and president of computing product line, said that the company will continue to invest in and promote the development of openEuler in five aspects. This includes, technological innovation, ecological construction, commercial promotion, open source construction, and talent development. In other words, it still aims to grow the platform.

RELATED:

The post Huawei donates its open source OS ‘openEuler’ appeared first on Gizmochina.

Allwinner Technology Opens Source To Expand Access to Cloud, Hyperconverged Datacenters and Web-Scale Computing

Shine Wong — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 07:01:06 +0000

San Francisco, June 12, 2015 — The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux and collaborative development, today announced that Allwinner Technology, Datto, LINBIT, and Nutanix are joining the organization.

Commodity hardware, low-power processors, virtualization and a reliable operating system like Linux are in high demand as companies embrace cloud, web-scale computing and high-performance computing. Major growth in trends such as mobile, edge and networked computing create ongoing challenges for collecting, storing, protecting and analyzing ever-escalating levels of data. However, Linux, running on devices, desktops, servers, clouds and modern supercomputers, is always evolving. For example, today’s new members are driving changes in hyperconverged data centers, chip design, disaster recovery and data replication.

“Allwinner is joining the Linux Foundation to support Linux and to improve what we see as two important open source software development capabilities: collaboration and compliance,” said Jack Lee, Chief Marketing Officer, Allwinner Technology. “These two concepts are critical yet difficult to master for new Linux community entrants like ourselves.”

“Linux evolves much more rapidly than any other OS and diversifies faster,” said Amanda McPherson, Chief Marketing Officer at The Linux Foundation. “No other operating system has jumped to new platforms, new workloads, and new architectures so quickly. As a result, we continually add new members who are are advancing new features and functionality at a very rapid clip. This keeps Linux vibrant and flexible enough for a wide variety of platforms, applications and computing environments.”

About Allwinner Technology

Allwinner Technology, founded in 2007 in Zhuhai, China, is a leading fabless semiconductor design company. The company designs integrated circuits and turnkey solutions for connected mobile electronics, home entertainment, video security, and IoT devices. Allwinner’s products have been used by multi-national brands and ODMs worldwide in applications like consumer tablet PCs, industrial and retail tablet PCs, OTT set-up boxes, IP cameras, smart digital appliances, Linux development boards, home gateways, robotics, Wi-Fi speakers, gaming consoles, automotive ADAS systems, and more.

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux and collaborative software development. Founded in 2000, the organization sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and promotes, protects and advances the Linux operating system and collaborative software development by marshaling the resources of its members and the open source community. The Linux Foundation provides a neutral forum for collaboration and education by hosting Collaborative Projects, Linux conferences, including LinuxCon and generating original research and content that advances the understanding of Linux and collaborative software development. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The post Allwinner Technology Opens Source To Expand Access to Cloud, Hyperconverged Datacenters and Web-Scale Computing appeared first on Gizmochina.

Faea F2s First Full Open Source On MediaTek Processor

Shine Wong — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 01:41:22 +0000

Faea is just new Android phone brand from China, and only a few model on sale now. Their Faea F1 is the world’s cheapest NFC phone, and Faea F2s own better FHD screen and faster MediaTek quad-core processor. Faea decide to release full source code to all developers as Thanksgiving Day gifts.

Faea has plan to compile CyanogenMod ROM with official team, the team leader Jef Oliver (Head of Developer Relations & Legacy, CyanogenMod) has a little difficult to port the official ROM, so Faea decide to release all source code to all developers who want to help them. As we known, CyanogenMod is the most popular unofficial ROM on Android operating system, but there is no ROM on MediaTek processor yet, although there is tons of China phone used this company processor. Faea F2s hope to be first, but still in processing after 2 months effort.

Faea has released the source code on their official site, all developers may download it now if you are interested in the original MediaTek source code.

Here is relative link: http://www.faeamobile.com/opensource

The post Faea F2s First Full Open Source On MediaTek Processor appeared first on Gizmochina.