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20-eyed, 20-legged robot moves in any direction with equal ease

Gizmag news -

Most of nature – including humans – is symmetrical, and as creations reflect their creators, many robots we create today feature this symmetry, with the general assumption that symmetry is best. Researchers at Duke University have challenged that assumption with Argus, a sea-urchin-like robot that ditches conventional symmetry altogether.

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Category: Robotics, Engineering

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Future robots could avoid damage by rolling up like armadillos

Gizmag news -

Nature has long served as a source of inspiration for scientific innovations. Many animals have evolved defensive features such as skins, shells, and scales to protect themselves from predators. Because protective mechanisms are essential in both biological organisms and engineered systems, a lot of these features have already been adopted in modern technologies. Recently, researchers from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University drew inspiration from the armadillo and its unique self-defense mechanism.

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Category: Robotics, Engineering

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Apple's new AI photo tool can virtually move your camera after you shoot

Digital Photography Review news -

Apple Photos is getting two new AI-powered features, along with updates to the existing "Clean Up" tool.
Image: Apple

Apple has announced iOS 27, the latest version of its mobile operating system, which focuses more on stability and refinement rather than loading up with new features. However, it shared a few additions, including one that raised a few eyebrows at DPReview: generative AI-powered photo editing.

The first change is an update to the "Clean Up" tool, which lets you remove unwanted elements in your image. Apple says the new version will provide "better quality and more realistic infill," even in complex scenes. The company is also adding an "Extend" tool, letting you effectively do a negative crop and use AI to add a simulacrum of what was outside the frame of your original image. Apple pitches it as a way to give your subject a bit more space, or to level an image without changing the composition.

When using Spatial Reframing, the blurry areas indicate where the photos app will have to use generative Extend.

While both features likely sound familiar to anyone who's spent any time in modern Photoshop, the company's last feature, "Spatial Reframing" is a bit more advanced. It uses AI to essentially change perspective, letting you virtually move the camera around to reframe a subject, and having AI fill in the background needed to sell the effect.

While the "Spatial" branding makes it seem like it uses the depth data that powers other features like virtual bokeh, that doesn't seem to be the case. Apple says you'll even be able to reframe older images, and ones taken using other cameras.

Apple says any images made using these features will include "a hidden SynthID watermark" to mark them as having been edited with AI. The company also says that some AI features, like image generation, will have "daily usage limits" because they rely on server-side processing. It's currently unclear what those limits are, exactly which features they'll apply to, or how much they'll be extended if you pay for the company's iCloud+ plans.

In many ways, this is Apple playing catch-up with other phone makers, as companies like Google and Samsung have introduced slews of AI-powered features*, like the ability to add the photographer into a group photo, combine several photos into a single image where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera, and resize/move elements of an image and clean up the background. But it's also interesting that there's one line Apple isn't crossing in the Photos app: giving you a tool to add generated imagery into your pictures, something both Google and Samsung let you do.

When it was introducing the features, Apple said it had a "deep respect for the craft of photography," and that it wanted to give photographers AI tools that "enhance their images in ways that respect the original moment."

This isn't a new take from Apple – in 2024, it said photos should be things that "really, actually happened" – but it's also not a hardline one. It's hard to ignore that, literally less than two minutes earlier in the presentation, there was a demo of using Apple's Image Playground app to add an AI-generated cake into someone's hands to create a birthday party invite. So while that functionality may not exist in the Photos app, it's clear Apple isn't taking a fundamental stance against using generative AI to completely alter an image and the context around it.

If there has to be a dedicated Siri mode in the camera app, surely it shouldn't come before actual photographic options like portrait and panorama mode.
Image: Apple

Aside from the editing tools, it doesn't seem like Apple's making too many changes to the photography experience, which isn't necessarily a surprise given it completely redesigned the camera app last year. It's adding a new Siri mode to the camera, which may be annoying for those who already find the interface cluttered, though we'll have to wait for the beta versions to be released to know for sure whether it can be removed as an option.

It's also possible we haven't seen everything new with iOS 27 yet. Apple will occasionally hold back announcing new features tied to hardware, so it's possible that there'll be further changes if, say, the company announces a new form-factor phone later this year (whatever that may be).

* Arguably, one of Google's most useful AI features is a virtual "Coach" that suggests how to improve your image as you're taking it; who needs Spatial Reframing when your phone was smart enough to tell you how to frame it in the first place?

Honeybees inspire a super-efficient navigation system for drones

Gizmag news -

Honeybees routinely travel up to 2 miles (3 km) from their hive in search of food before returning home, with remarkable accuracy. Relative to body size, this is comparable to a human traveling hundreds of miles and finding their way back without a map, compass, GPS, or smartphone. Despite possessing brains smaller than a sesame seed, bees accomplish this feat with astonishing efficiency. Now, researchers have adapted those same biological principles into a drone navigation system that can guide lightweight flying robots home using just 42 KB of memory.

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Category: Drones, Consumer Tech, Technology

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3D-printable architectural material is made out of yeast

Gizmag news -

A research team at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has come up with a new bio-derived material made from yeast. It can be used with 3D-printing technology to produce a construction material which can be modified specifically for the architectural and interior design field.

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Category: Materials, Engineering

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Bookshelf speakers put the tweeter in the throat of the driver cone

Gizmag news -

Think speakers are a simple paper cone that vibrates to translate electrical signals into sound? Like much of the tech we feature, there’s rather more to it these days – as the European debut of a new high-end wireless speaker system from Scotland has just demonstrated.

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Category: Home Entertainment, Consumer Tech, Technology

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Viltrox's latest APS-C lenses are made for portraits

Digital Photography Review news -

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. Photo: Viltrox

Viltrox has announced two new APS-C entries to its "Evo" line of lenses, a 75mm (113mm equiv.) F1.8 and a 90mm (135mm equiv.) F2.2, available for Fujifilm X, Nikon Z and Sony E mounts.

The 75mm uses 11 elements in 9 groups, with two high-refractive index elements and two extra-low dispersion elements. The 90mm has the same mix of special glass, but with 10 elements in 8 groups. Both can focus as close as 0.74m (29"), and use stepper motors for autofocus.

They can also be fitted with 58mm filters and have aperture rings. The Sony E and Nikon Z versions have the ability to click and de-click that ring, as well as a function button, both of which are absent on the version for Fujifilm.


A bit unusually, the version of the lens for Fujifilm has fewer physical controls and switches than the Z and E-mount versions.
Image: Viltrox

The E mount version of the 75mm F1.8 weighs 335g (11.8oz) and is 76mm (3") long. The 90mm is the same length, but weighs 320g (11.3oz). The Z and X mount versions are slightly different weights and lengths, but are effectively the same size. They have rubber seals on their lens mounts to protect against moisture and dust, and have a water resistant coating on their front elements.

The AF 75mm F1.8 Evo costs $329, while the AF 90mm F2.2 costs $369. They are available today.

Viltrox AF 75mm F1.8 Evo

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Viltrox AF 90mm F2.2 Evo

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Press release:

Viltrox Launches AF 75mm F1.8 EVO & AF 90mm F2.2 Lenses

Exceptionally portable lenses with versatile everyday performance, optimized for portrait photography and video

Shenzhen, China, Jun 8(th), 2026 – Viltrox today announced the launch of two new APS-C portrait prime lenses: the AF 75mm F1.8 EVO and AF 90mm F2.2 EVO. Designed for APS-C mirrorless cameras, the new lenses combine professional telephoto portrait performance with compact, lightweight construction.

Versatile For Everything, Ideal for Portraits

With the introduction of the two new EVO lenses, portrait photographers can achieve strong spatial compression and smooth, atmospheric bokeh that naturally isolates subjects from distracting backgrounds. With a minimum focusing distance of just 0.74m, these lenses also enable tighter framing and immersive close-up shots for more expressive portrait compositions.

The AF 75mm F1.8 EVO offers a versatile 112.5mm-equivalent focal length that balances strong background blur with flexible everyday usability for street photography, half-body portraits, and urban shooting. The AF 90mm F2.2 EVO provides a classic 135mm-equivalent portrait perspective with enhanced compression and subject isolation, making it particularly well suited for outdoor portraits, wedding photography, and cinematic portraiture.

Improved Image Consistency Across the Frame

Viltrox has developed new optical designs incorporating ED (Extra-low Dispersion) and HR (High Refractive Index) elements to reduce chromatic aberration and contribute to improved overall image consistency. Even at maximum aperture, the lenses deliver sharp, high-resolution image quality from center to edge, while effectively helping maintain bright, consistent illumination across the frame. This results in natural tonal transitions and refined rendering characteristics.

Both lenses are equipped with Viltrox’s STM autofocus system, delivering fast, accurate, and quiet focusing performance for both photography and video. Stable, highly responsive continuous autofocus tracking helps creators maintain focus on subjects, even in dynamic shooting environments.

Both lenses also feature a customizable Fn button, an AF/MF switch, and a switchable click/de-click aperture ring** for seamless transitions between photo and video workflows.

The Everyday Carry: Compact and Lightweight Designs

The two EVO lenses continue the series’ design language with a clean exterior, compact construction, and durable build quality. Each lens weighs under 355g*, providing a lightweight alternative to traditional telephoto portrait lenses without compromising performance. With a rubber-sealed lens mount and a smudge and water-resistant coating on the front element, they are well suited to outdoor conditions.

Pricing and Availability

For more information, please visit:

AF 75mm F1.8 EVO：https://bit.ly/4dQ56Kl

AF 90mm F2.2 EVO：https://bit.ly/4fFqiVE

Amazon Store US:

AF 75mm F1.8 EVO：https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GR419VPM

AF 90mm F2.2 EVO：https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GR3ZQ92S

Amazon Store Europe:

AF 75mm F1.8 EVO：https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0GR419VPM

AF 90mm F2.2 EVO：https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0GR3ZQ92S

AF 75mm F1.8 EVO (E / Z / XF) - USD $329 / GBP £319 / EUR €389

AF 90mm F2.2 EVO (E / Z / XF) - USD $369 / GBP £359 / EUR €429

*Weight may vary slightly depending on the lens mount version

** XF mount version does not include the CLICK switch, Fn button, and AF/MF switch

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