Instaframe: image recognition meets Instagram

Bringing the digital photo frame into an even more modern age than the modern age it already resides in, Sean Tracey uses image recognition and social media to update his mother on the day-to-day happenings of her grandkids.

Sharing social media content

“Like every grandmother, my mum dotes on her grandchildren (the daughter and son of my sister, Grace and Freddie),” Sean explains in his tutorial for the project, “but they don’t live nearby, so she doesn’t get to see them as much as she might like.”

Sean tells of his mother’s lack of interest in social media platforms (they’re too complex), and of the anxiety he feels whenever she picks up his phone to catch up on the latest images of Grace and Freddie.

So I thought: “I know! Why don’t I make my mum a picture frame that filters my Instagram feed to show only pictures of my niece and nephew!”

Genius!

Image recognition and Instagram

Sean’s Instaframe project uses a Watson Visual Recognition model to recognise photos of his niece and nephew posted to his Instagram account, all via a Chrome extension. Then, via a series of smaller functions, these images are saved to a folder and displayed on a screen connected to a Raspberry Pi 3B+.

Sean has written up a full rundown of the build process on his website.

Photos and Pi

Do you like photos and Raspberry Pi? Then check out these other photo-focused Pi projects that we’re sure you’ll love (because they’re awesome) and will want to make yourself (because they’re awesome).

FlipFrame

FlipFrame, the rotating picture frame, rotates according to the orientation of the image on display.

Upstagram

This tiny homage to the house from Up! takes bird’s-eye view photographs of Paris and uploads them to Instagram as it goes.

Pi-powered DSLR shutter

Adrian Bevan hacked his Raspberry Pi to act as a motion-activated shutter remote for his digital SLR — aka NatureBytes on steroids.

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Quick Fix — a vending machine for likes and followers

Sometimes we come across a project that just scores a perfect 10 on all fronts. This is one of them: an art installation using Raspberry Pi that has something interesting to say, does it elegantly, and is implemented beautifully (nothing presses our buttons like a make that’s got a professionally glossy finish like this).

Quick Fix is a vending machine (and art installation) that sells social media likes and followers. Drop in a coin, enter your social media account name, and an army of fake accounts will like or follow you. I’ll leave the social commentary to you. Here’s a video from the maker, Dries Depoorter:

Quick Fix – the vending machine selling likes and followers

Quick Fix in an interactive installation by Dries Depoorter. The artwork makes it possible to buy followers or likes in just a few seconds. For a few euros you already have 200 of likes on Instagram. “Quick Fix “is easy to use. Choose your product, pay and fill in your social media username.

There’s a Raspberry Pi 3B+ in there, along with an Arduino, powering a coin acceptor and some I2C LCD screens. Then there’s a stainless steel heavy-duty keyboard, which we’re lusting after (a spot of Googling unearthed this, which appears to be the same thing, if you’re in the market for a panel-mounted beast of a keyboard).

This piece was commissioned by Pixelache, a cultural association from Helsinki, whose work looks absolutely fascinating if you’ve got a few minutes to browse. Thanks to them and to Dries Depoorter — I have a feeling this won’t be the last of his projects we’re going to feature here.

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Your amazing Raspberry Pi projects #IUseMyRaspberryPiFor

Yesterday, we asked you to share your Raspberry Pi builds on social media using the hashtag #IUseMyRaspberryPiFor. The result was amazing, with so many of you sharing some really interesting projects, inspiring both us, and others, to get creative.

While we can’t share them all here today, we picked out some to highlight, and we strongly recommend you check out the hashtag on Twitter to see them all.

Making music

$danielKraft; on Twitter

Live digital audio effects processing with @blokaslabs MODEP #IUseMyRaspberryPiFor https://t.co/7HVhxns2p1

We see a lot of music-based Raspberry Pi projects, from guitar pedals to radios, soundboards, and capacitive-touch fruit baskets. This effects processor for Daniel Kraft’s drum kit will have many of the musically inclined members of Raspberry Pi Towers getting code-happy in no time.

Spying on hedgehogs

Matt Nayler on Twitter

IUseMyRaspberryPiFor monitoring the wildlife in my garden.

Matt uses his Raspberry Pi to monitor wildlife in his garden. Add a motion sensor and a camera to your Raspberry Pi, and you’ve made your own nature camera trap.

Inspiring the next generation

Pierre-yves Baloche on Twitter

IUseMyRaspberryPiFor building autonomous robots, securing our house Internet access, picturing wildlife in our garden, but mostly to introduce IT to my daughter and how much can be accomplished and learned through it (creativity, patience,…), all thanks to the community :-) !

Pierre-Yves Baloche uses his Raspberry Pi for a multitude of tasks, including as a tool to introduce his daughter to technology, and to the technical and non-technical skills that come with learning to make stuff.

Accessibility assistant

Sarvottam Kumar on Twitter

I’m using raspberry pi for building a visual guide for visually impaired people. It is portable and fully voice-controlled. It can be used for most of the daily life activities. #IUseMyRaspberryPiFor #RaspberryPi

This project from Sarvottam Kumar [edited to correct attribution] is a great example of how Raspberry Pi can be used to create low-cost accessibility aids.

Plane-spotting

selftronics on Twitter

This is how planespotters use their TVs. Log and monitor the planes approaching and landing to an airport with @Raspberry_Pi #IUseMyRaspberryPiFor #AI #flightradar24 Source here: https://t.co/1t5Lau2bt9

Our colleagues at the Raspberry Pi North America office have a similar setup for plane spotting.

Reptile management

Patrick Fitzgerald on Twitter

IUseMyRaspberryPiFor monitoring and managing my bearded dragon’s vivarium.

Patrick uses a Raspberry Pi to monitor a bearded dragons vivarium. We really appreciate this photo, because bearded dragons are awesome!

Everything

Nathan Chantrell on Twitter

IUseMyRaspberryPiFor Loads of things! Everything from home automation with Node-RED, HA touch screens, sensor monitoring with InfluxDB/Grafana, VoIP PBX, Octoprint, fixed & pan/tilt cameras, control of a Cambridge Audio amp, UniFi controller, PiHole, probably missed loads!

Nathan uses a Raspberry Pi for just about everything! Great work!

Octoprint

Phil on Twitter

IUseMyRaspberryPiFor Remote controlling my 3D printer and recording timelapses as it prints. Just like now! #octoprint @Creality3dprint

Phil uses a Raspberry Pi to run Octoprint, allowing for remote control of a 3D printer. We do this too in the Raspberry Pi Foundation makerspace.

As we said, there are simply too many projects to share in one blog post. However, we found some great blog-fodder that we’ll be writing more about in the near future — keep your eyes peeled.

It’s not too late to share your Raspberry Pi project using #IUseMyRaspberryPiFor, so keep posting!

The post Your amazing Raspberry Pi projects #IUseMyRaspberryPiFor appeared first on Raspberry Pi.

Some Claim The iPhone 12’s Frame Is Too Sharp And Are Cutting People’s Hands

When Apple announced the iPhone 12, they revealed that the phone comes with a brand new design. It features flat edges around the phone similar to the design of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5. It’s a welcome change, but could it be detrimental to users? Maybe, maybe not, if the claims on the internet are to be believed.According to a report from MyDrivers as initially shared by GizChina, it […]

White Castle To Expand Robot Burger Flippers To More Locations

One of the advantages of using robots to perform certain tasks is that for certain tasks that are repetitive, having a robot ensures consistency and also the fact that robots don’t need to rest. It seems that White Castle’s experience with Miso Robotics’ Flippy ROAR has proven to be a good one, so much so that the company plans to expand the robots to 10 more locations.For those unfamiliar, earlier […]

Honeymoon Period Between Apple And Foxconn Could Be Over

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Latest Windows 10 Update Removes Adobe Flash From Your Computer

At the end of 2020, Adobe will be officially retiring Flash for good. It had a good long run and we have to give it credit for paving the way for platforms like YouTube, but we suppose like all good things, it has to come to an end, especially given that the past few years, Flash has proven to be more problematic than useful.That being said, Microsoft has announced that […]

Twitch Suspends DragonForce Guitarist’s Channel For Playing His Own Music

Given the sheer number of videos that are uploaded and streamed, it would not be realistic to expect that platforms like Twitch or YouTube have human moderators to moderate every single one. This usually means that these platforms need to rely on automated systems to look out for content that might violate their terms of service.Unfortunately, these automated systems are far from perfect, such as in the case with DragonForce’s […]

iPhone 13 Could Come With 1TB Of Storage

Apple’s iPhone storage currently caps out at 512GB and there is no way to expand on it as the iPhones do not support storage expansion via microSD cards like some Android phones do.  However, for those who feel that 512GB is still not enough, you might want to keep an eye out for the iPhone 13.This is because according to Jon Prosser, he claims that Apple could introduce a 1TB […]

The Backbone One Is A Game Controller For The iPhone

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Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet Expected To Be Priced At $99 A Month

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Tim Cook Teases ‘More Exciting Things’ From Apple This Year

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Chevrolet Will Start Selling EV Retrofit Kits In 2021

If you want an electric car, you’ll have to go out and buy one, but what if you already own a car? We suppose you could sell it off and then buy an electric car, but what if you didn’t have to? That’s pretty much the premise the Chevrolet is working with as the company has announced that in 2021, they will start selling EV retrofit kits.Basically what this means […]

Apple Announces Replacement Program For Some AirPods Pro Owners

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Apple Will Refund Apple One Customers With Duplicate Apple Subscriptions

Now that Apple One is live, we’re sure that some of you might have questions about the service, like what if you’re already subscribed to an existing Apple service? Will you continue being subscribed to both services even if it might be a duplicate service inside the Apple One package?According to the folks at iPhone in Canada, they have confirmed that Apple will actually refund customers if they’re already subscribed […]

Sony’s DualSense Controller Works With The Nintendo Switch

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WhatsApp Launches New Disappearing Messages Feature

While our phones are encrypted and prevents people from unlocking it unless we authorize them, that doesn’t mean that all our contents are 100% secure. This is why despite it sometimes being a bit redundant and inefficient, having extra layers of security might not be a bad idea, especially if you deal with sensitive information.The good news for WhatsApp users is that it looks like WhatsApp has finally rolled out […]

Amazon Is Shipping Random Products In Mario-Themed Boxes

If you have recently placed an order on Amazon, don’t be surprised if it shows up at your home in a Mario-themed box, and no, there is a good chance that your order was not mixed up with someone else’s order. This is because this is due to a collaboration with Amazon and Nintendo as part of Mario’s 35th anniversary celebration.So how does one get a Mario-themed box? It turns […]

Nikon Finally Allows Users To Use Their Cameras As A Webcam

(No) thanks to the pandemic, a lot of things we do on a normal day are changing in drastic ways. A lot more people are working remotely and studying remotely, and this in turn has created a need for webcams, or rather, better quality webcams, and so to address this need, many camera makers have released software that turns their cameras into webcams.We’ve seen this offered by the likes of […]

A Bitcoin Wallet Containing $964 Million Was Just Emptied Out

Bitcoin has been around for a while now and presumably, there have been people mining for the cryptocurrency from the early days, and also presumably, those people might have amassed quite a collection over the years. In fact, there has been one particular Bitcoin wallet that has been closely watched by cryptocurrency enthusiasts for a while.This is because this particular Bitcoin wallet contained 69369.16716000 BTC, which when converted using the […]

Early iPhone 13 Prototype Apparently Does Not Feature In-Display Touch ID

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DJI Mini 2 Is A Drone That Can Fit In Your Backpack

Consumer drones for the most part aren’t very big, which is a good thing in terms of portability. However, they are still big enough where it isn’t as simple as you packing them into a backpack and calling it a day, but if you are after something that small and portable, you might be interested to learn that DJI has since unveiled the DJI Mini 2.The Mini 2 is the […]

Apple Wants To Put Its LiDAR Sensor Into Self-Driving Cars

In order for self-drivings cars to be able to detect what’s around them, like people, objects, or other cars, it relies on a variety of sensors. One of those sensors is LiDAR which Apple has famously included in its newer iPads and also the iPhone 12 Pro series, and it looks like Apple is now taking that technology and applying it to a self-driving car system.This is according to a […]

Researchers Develop Nasal Spray That Could Prevent COVID-19 Infections

Many are waiting for the day that our lives can return to normal, but that will have to wait until the coronavirus pandemic has been dealt with. Ideally, a vaccine would be the best-case scenario where we immunize ourselves to the virus, but it has been suggested that even then, vaccines won’t be a permanent solution.They might also be expensive to buy and we’re sure that not everyone is thrilled […]

AirTags Carrying Case Leaked In Photos

Alongside the Apple Silicon Mac computers that will be unveiled tomorrow, Apple has also been rumored to announce a new accessory called AirTags. Now thanks to a tweet by @choco_bit, it looks like the carrying case for the AirTags has been leaked in photos, suggesting that it will come in the form of a keychain.In case you haven’t heard, AirTags are a tracking-like device similar to Tile in terms of […]

iPhone 12 Pro Max’s Price In Brazil Is Absolutely Crazy

Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro Max is the company’s top-of-the-line model and it is rather pricey where it has a price start of $1,400 for the 512GB model. This is as expensive as an iPhone can get at the moment, and we’re sure that many are already complaining about it. However, it seems that it can’t quite beat how much it is priced in Brazil.It seems that over in Brazil, the […]

Adobe Will Bring Lightroom, Photoshop To Apple’s New M1 Computers

One of the chief concerns about Apple launching its new M1 chipset for its Mac computers isn’t so much about power. So far benchmarks have shown that it is more than capable of holding its own against Intel processors, so instead the concerns are more about whether or not developers will bother to develop apps to support the new chipset.An earlier report suggested that major app developers are opting out […]

Apple Trolls PC Owners By Bringing Back ‘PC Guy’

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macOS Big Sur Will Let Users Run iPhone And iPad Apps

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Some Xbox Series X Units Are Shutting Down At Random

We all know how frustrating it can be when you buy a new game only to have the servers crash or suffer from instability issues, thus making the game unable to be played. However, in the case of Microsoft’s brand new Xbox Series X, it’s not really the games that are the issue, but the console itself.In a series of posts made on the Microsoft support forums, some Xbox Series […]

iPhone 13 Could Sport An Interesting Battery Design

Right now, pretty much all batteries used by smartphones are the same, just with different capacities. However, with the iPhone 13, Apple could potentially be adopting something known as soft board battery technology, at least that’s according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who wrote in a research note to investors.According to Kuo, one of the reasons for switching to soft board battery technology is that it will help to save space […]

Animation In Mac App Store’s Graphics Hints At Touchscreen Based Macs

Earlier we reported that during an interview with The Independent, Apple’s SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi seemed to have shut down the rumors that Apple is developing a touchscreen-based Mac. He certainly did not mince words nor was he being coy about it, where he flat out said that Apple was “not remotely considering something about touch”.However, according to a tweet by Louie Mantia Jr., he stumbled across an […]

iPhone 12 Users Running Into Missing SMS And Message Notification Errors

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This Device Beams Music In Your Head Without Headphones

If you want to enjoy a song or movie in private, the only way you can do so is through the use of headphones which prevents other people from hearing what you’re hearing. However, sometimes headphones aren’t comfortable for extended periods of time, and it also makes it harder for you to hear what’s going on around you.However, an Israeli firm by the name of Noveto Systems has developed what […]

Stretchable, Synthetic Skin Lets Users ‘Feel’ Objects In Virtual Reality

As immersive as virtual reality (VR) tech is visually, there is a bit of a disconnect between what you see and what you can “touch” in a VR environment. We’ve seen companies come up with various ways to allow users to feel objects in VR, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that researchers at Cornell University have also come up with their own solution.This comes in the form of […]

M1 MacBook Air Emulating x86 Processors Beats Out Some Macs On Benchmarks

To help deal with the fact that there won’t be a ton of native M1 compatible apps available right out the gate, what Apple has done is reintroduce its Rosetta translation software, which comes in the form of Rosetta 2. Basically what this does is that it helps “translate” and emulates x86 apps so that they can run the new M1 chipset.Apple does note that in some cases, it could […]

Apple Begins Giving Monthly Credits To Apple TV+ Subscribers

apple tvIf you’ve subscribed to Apple TV+ either through its standalone offering or through the Apple One bundle plan, it seems that Apple is giving away free monthly credits from November 2020 through January 2021. For the US, this is equivalent to $4.99 a month, but the amount will vary depending on your region and currency.What this means is that at the end of every month, starting November through January, […]

Early PS5 Adopters Are Reporting Issues With Their Consoles

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South Korean News Channel Introduces An AI-Powered News Anchor

There are reasons why news anchors are still relevant in this day and age when you can easily read news online. This is because anchors have personalities and a way of delivering the news and analyzing them with their comments that can make a particular piece of news insightful and provide more context than just reading them.However, it seems it is possible that one day, these new anchors could be […]

$6.6 Million Worth Of Apple Products Just Got Stolen

While Apple products are expensive, they do hold their resale value especially if you take care of them really well, where even after a couple of years, devices like the iPhone can still sell for a bit of money secondhand. This is why they’re especially valuable for thieves who believe that they can fence stolen Apple goods.It is also why it doesn’t really come as a surprise to learn that […]

Uber HW Camera Scores #004: iPhone 12 Family, Razr 5G, Galaxy A, and More!

The iPhone 12 Pro Max is in the office, and we could take a closer look at some extra data points. We are officially adding the whole iPhone 12 family to our list of Camera HardWare scores available, including the iPhone SE 2020, the iPhone 11… and more.A few words about our mobile camera HardWare benchmark called Uber HW Camera:The score accurately ranks the hardware strength of an unprecedented number of mobile camera […]

Twitch Will Now Let Streamers ‘Buy’ Affiliate Statuses

On Twitch, you have all kinds of streamers. Some of whom just stream for fun, and then there are also those who stream for a living, or at least attempt to supplement their income from money they earn through Twitch. The entry-level tier is the Affiliate status that streamers would have to earn.However, it seems that Twitch has announced a partnership with Monstercat which would effectively allow streamers to “buy” […]

New Data Suggests That Apple Was Right To Introduce Deeper Customization In iOS 14

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Google Pay Will Now Come With Transfer Fees

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Someone Took Apple’s M1 MacBook Air And Turned It Into The World’s Largest Tesla Key

In order to help deal with the lack of native apps, Apple allows macOS Big Sur users on its M1 computers to run iPhone and iPad apps. While it might not necessarily be optimized for a laptop’s dimensions and UI, the idea is that it will bring about functionality and usability until more native apps arrive for the M1 chipset.Of course, this has led to some creative uses of the […]

Apple’s New M1 Macs Can Unofficially Support Up To 6 Displays

According to the official specs listed by Apple, Apple’s new M1 powered Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro will only support anywhere between 1-2 external displays. This is versus the Intel-powered variants that can support more, but is the limit of 1-2 displays true? It turns out not really.According to a video uploaded to YouTube by Ruslan Tulupov, he has managed to connect as many as six external displays […]

PS5 Scalper Group Managed To Nab 3,500 Units

If you are having a tough time getting your hands on Sony’s PS5 console, then you have scalpers to blame. This is because according to a report from Business Insider, it appears that a UK based scalper group calling themselves CrepChiefNotify have managed to nab as many as 3,500 units in total and are reselling them at premium prices.According to the report, the group relied on a variety of tools […]

Apple Really Doesn’t Want To Pay VirnetX $500 Million

In the past, we’ve come across many patent troll related lawsuits, where a company that owns a patent that is vaguely similar to a technology or product used by another company will sue that company over alleged infringement. The goal is to try and get these companies to quickly settle the matter instead of fighting a long and drawn out court battle.One of the more notable lawsuits we’ve seen in […]

Apple Watch, MacBooks To Get Redesign In 2021

One of the chief criticisms that we saw when Apple launched the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro is that while the innards have changed, externally, they’re still the same. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that Apple has kept the design since it works rather well, but at the same time, many expected Apple to come up with something new for its new chipsets.The good news is that if […]

Microsoft Willing To Work With Apple To Bring xCloud Onto iOS Devices

Apple had not too long ago expressed their willingness to allow game streaming services on their mobile devices, but there was a caveat in which they also required developers to submit their games to the App Store if it were also available on the game streaming service. Apple claims that this is so that they can review the games to ensure it abides by their terms and conditions.It is not […]