Extra information about QUMA

Hi, it is Dr. NISHIO Hirokazu. Did you already read Quma: 3D Motion-Capture Figure For 3D CG Production (Video) | TechCrunch or The Washington Post? I'm very glad to see a lot of people are interested in the project. Unfortunately, there are less information in English than in Japanese. I'll write about them.



Pronunciation
COO of 'cool' + MA of 'mama'. It is similar to the word 'KUMA'(bear) in Japanese. It is because early prototype was put in teddy-bear skin.

How much? It must be expensive!

There are no official announcement about the price. However, SoftEther said "the selling price will be between 10000 JPY and 20000 JPY" on 2009/10/30, with showing QUMA prototype. (ref. 1) In my humble opinion, it will cost much, 2 or 3 times. However it couldn't possibly imagine that it costs over 100000 JPY. Again, it is my humble opinion, not an official one.

About contributers

SoftEther said CELSYS、ViVienne, 3D-GAN and University of Tsukuba are the contributor of the project. (ref. 2)

CELSYS is selling software to make illustrations, comics and animations. It is nice if those soft supports QUMA directly. It seems possible.

ViVienne got a subsidy to a 3D-related project from MEXT(Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) (ref. 3). SoftEther got the subsidy form MEXT too. SoftEther colocates with Tsukuba Univ. It seems those three players are cooperating tightly.

Additionaly, the figure designer ASAI Masaki tweeted about his contribution. (ref. 4) He is very popular as a creator of figma, action figures with exchangeable faces and modules.

Modularity
SoftEther said, the joints of QUMA are modular and can be re-assemble, so you can make various animals like camels, snakes etc, not only human. In my humble opinion, no one use snakes as snakes, but tentacles. ;)

Reference
(ref. 1) 3Dキャラの動きをぬいぐるみで操作、個人用モーションキャプチャ -INTERNET Watch
(ref. 2) 報道発表資料 - 開発中の「QUMA」技術を応用した 3D モーションキャプチャ装置を公開
(ref .3) IPA：2007年度第I期「未踏ユース」採択概要
(ref. 4) http://twitter.com/#!/masakiapsy/status/93823167306530816

Use GitPython to see what's going in git

Hi, it's NISHIO Hirokazu. I'm planning to make a git cheat sheet for beginners. I want to see what's going in git, and GitPython tells it to me! Now we can see the change of index, HEAD, branches, tags, objects and their contents. What's else?

# easy_install GitPython

http://packages.python.org/GitPython/0.3.1/intro.html#getting-started

>>> from git import *
>>> r = Repo(".")
>>> r.index.entries
{('README', 0): (100644, 432a4b6de3c8318e1e59178492608cc10e48b00a, 0, README)}

https://github.com/gitpython-developers/gitdb/blob/master/doc/source/tutorial.rst

>>> for k in r.odb.sha_iter():
...     r.odb.info(k)
... 
('"b\xde\x0c\x12\x1f"\xdf\x8ex\xf5\xa3}n\x11O\xd3"\xc0\xb0', 'blob', 5)
('C*Km\xe3\xc81\x8e\x1eY\x17\x84\x92`\x8c\xc1\x0eH\xb0\n', 'blob', 10)
("I'T\x08\xd5T\xd5[\xaa\xd5\x99\xe5\xb4\x19\xed\x81\xecn\xbd0", 'commit', 190)
('\xd2\x12\x83\xc7\x04E\x08\xcf:J\xac\xce\xfd\x91x\xf6u\x9c#\xda', 'tree', 34)

>>> for k in r.odb.sha_iter():
...     r.odb.stream(k).read()
... 
'hoge\n'
'hoge\nhoge\n'
'tree d21283c7044508cf3a4aaccefd9178f6759c23da\nauthor NISHIO Hirokazu  1303459640 +0900\ncommitter NISHIO Hirokazu  1303459640 +0900\n\nmsg\n'
'100644 README\x00"b\xde\x0c\x12\x1f"\xdf\x8ex\xf5\xa3}n\x11O\xd3"\xc0\xb0'

>>> r.branches # equals to r.heads?
[<git.Head "refs/heads/master">]
>>> r.refs
[<git.Head "refs/heads/master">]
>>> r.tags
[]

[1]+  Stopped                 python
f$ git branch foo
f$ cat >> README
hogehoge
f$ git commit -a
Waiting for Emacs...
[master 4c1458d] hogehoge
 1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)

f$ fg
python

>>> r.branches
[<git.Head "refs/heads/foo">, <git.Head "refs/heads/master">]
>>> [x.object for x in r.branches]
[<git.Commit "49275408d554d55baad599e5b419ed81ec6ebd30">, <git.Commit "4c1458d2547c77d3166edd081b000f87cceb218e">]

[1]+  Stopped                 python
f$ git reset HEAD^
Unstaged changes after reset:
M README
f$ fg
python

>>> [x.object for x in r.branches]
[<git.Commit "49275408d554d55baad599e5b419ed81ec6ebd30">, <git.Commit "49275408d554d55baad599e5b419ed81ec6ebd30">]

>>> r.head.object
<git.Commit "49275408d554d55baad599e5b419ed81ec6ebd30">
>>>

How to make potato curry

Hi, it is ENDOH takanao @MiCHiLU

First fresh tomato, onion, boiled potato, turmeric and curry leaves, put them into coconut milk. Then to simmer for about 10 minutes so it does not boil. Finally put some salt into them. It is easy!

Sigiriya Rock

Hi, it is ENDOH takanao @MiCHiLU

I climbed to the Sigiriya Rock in Sri-Lanka.

The Sigiriya Rock is a rock hill in the forest. There is historic ruins, some pools, some building made rocks and many stone stirs around the rock. It is the ancient city of Sigiriya (World Heritage site) 1500 years ago.

Entered the site, there were some ancient fountains in the Water Gardens, then went through these, starts the steps witch leads to the Sigiriya Rock. At the foot of the rock, there were the Mirror Wall by the way along the rock and Frescoes over the way.

The Frescoes is cave painting of the famed Sigiriya Ladies the ancient people painted with flowers and leaves. The Mirror Wall is made of caustic lime with honey and egg white. It reflected Frescoes on the other side of the way with written the poems on itself in those days.

Then went through the way, there was the Lion's Paws witch is the entrance of the steps used to climb up to on the top rock. I went up the steep cliff slowly.

When I reached the top there was a royal palace on the rock standing some 200 meters high. I gazed at the most amazing view from there. There was a pool in the sky before my eyes. It was a striking vista in the extensive northern plain.

If you have the journey to Sri-Lanka, the Sigiriya Rock is worth visiting.

Sri-Lankan Gecko

Hi, it is ENDOH takanao @MiCHiLU

Sri-Lankan gecko is more charming than the Japanese house lizard in Okinawa. It can jump from edge of wall, and it can cry like birds, the marvelous thing!

One day, I found child of gecko on the table, it was a little, so cute. When it walk, shake the body making sounds.

Some people in Sri-Lanka, when they start something, if the gecko cries, they stop the thing. It is a fortune.

The gecko eat mosquitos and some insects in the house. They are innocent and friendly with us.

How to make Sri-Lankan Chili Paste

Hi, it is ENDOH takanao @MiCHiLU

The chili paste is hot, but not simply hot, it is a complex taste. I feel umami like Japanese dashi from that. The dashi is Japanese soup stock made from fish and kelp, and the umami is fifth category of taste, corresponding to the flavor of glutamate.

How to make the chili paste, the ingredients are chilies, raw garlic, raw purple onion, curry leaves, salt, pepper and dried fish. The curry leaves is Sri-Lankan herb, it is put in to most curries. You can substitute a bay laurel for it. They are mixed and grind in the mill, then put some lime juice in to them.

I prefer the Sri-Lankan chili paste, to match coconut very well. When i return to Japan, will try to make it with Japanese foodstuff.

How to make ginger tea and cinnamon tea

Hi, it is ENDOH takanao @MiCHiLU

Ginger tea is popular in Sri-Lanka. It is like lemon flavor.

• First, warm the tea pot.
• Second, put tea leaves, one teaspoon for one cup of tea.
• Third, put crushed ginger in to the tea pot.
• Next, pour boiling water. After that, stir well.
• Finally, strain in to cups.

Another, some cinnamon sticks put in to the tea container. After come time, there will be the cinnamon tea.

If you are tired or have sore throat, these teas are good.