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Microsoft is thinking about a futuristic way to stop you from losing your keys (MSFT)

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microsoft ar keys patent augmented reality

Augmented reality is a seriously buzzy concept right now. A head-mounted computer that inserts interactive objects and holograms into your field of view, it could transform the world of work, pave the way for screenless computers, and create radical new entertainment mediums.

It may also have a rather niche, but extremely useful side-effect: It could stop you losing your keys.

A recently published patent application from Microsoft details how the technology could be used for "object tracking." The cameras on the headsets, primarily used to monitor the physical environment (so the virtual objects can be added), could also be used to identify and monitor the locations and movements of real-world objects. (We first saw the patent over on CNET, and you can read the full filing below.)

It might learn what your keys look like, the patent filing suggests — and will then be able to tell you where it saw them last if you can't remember where you put them down.

It gets even more interesting when it introduces the possible of multiple users' AR headsets communicating with one-another. "Each person may become aware of changes to objects made by other users via the sharing of object tracking information," the filing reads. "In this manner, a user may be able to discover a most recent location of lost keys, may be provided with a reminder to buy more milk while browsing the dairy section at a grocery store, and/or may track and recall other object state information in any suitable manner."

In other words, if Will puts down his wallet, then Lyra moves it, Will's headset will be told where it was moved to by Lyra's, so it's easy for him to find.

justin trudeau hololensAs Microsoft's milk carton example indicates, this is by no means limited to keys (or wallets). It could be theoretically applied to just about any object, providing the AR cameras are capable of reliably identifying it.

We should caution that this is all likely a long way off — if it ever materializes. Microsoft's augmented reality headset HoloLens is still in its early stages, and not yet marketed to consumers. And tech companies file thousands of patents every year that never make it into any finished product.

But the patent — first filed in September 2016 — still provides a tantalizing insight into what one of the leaders in the field of augmented reality is thinking about, and the potential use cases we may see in the years ahead.

Here's the full patent filing:

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Take a look inside the executive residence of the White House where the Obamas have lived for the last 8 years

Amy Schumer finally sold her 'tiny' penthouse apartment in NYC

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Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer has finally sold her "tiny" one-bedroom co-op on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, according to Variety.

Both the buyer and the final selling price are unknown. What is known: the apartment isn't actually so tiny.

Though last year the comedian joked about how, despite her fame, she still lives in a one-bedroom walk-up apartment, she neglected to mention that it was also a penthouse, technically.

It's located on the top floor of a beautiful brownstone building, steps from the Museum of Natural History and a block away from Central Park. It totals about 850 square feet and she bought the apartment for $1.695 million in September 2014, Curbed NY reports.

Schumer quietly listed the apartment last November for $2.075 million, as was first reported by the New York Post. Nearly a year later, the price on the cozy space had been reduced to $1.625 million with new brokers. The final listing price was $1.625 million, marking at least a $70,000 loss before realtors fees are factored in.

Modlin Group now had the listing.

SEE ALSO: See inside the $5.3 million Washington, DC, home that the Obamas will move into after they leave the White House

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The apartment is no typical New York shoe box — it's actually a penthouse on the top floor of an Upper West Side brownstone.



A gorgeous stone entryway with a wooden door allows entrance into the five-unit co-op building.



Schumer wasn't kidding about the walk-up, however. The apartment is on the fifth floor, and there's no elevator. At least the hallways are nice.



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These maps reveal something disturbing about when you’ll probably die

Here's the surprising reason we drop a ball on New Year's Eve

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The dropping of the New Year's Eve ball in Times Square has been a tradition for over 100 years. We spoke with the agent for the ball itself, Jeffrey Straus, and climbed to the top of One Times Square to find out why millions join together on December 31st to watch a lighted ball drop down a pole. 

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Here's the simple trick to look your best in selfies from your smartphone

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oneplus 3 galaxy s7

Have you ever taken a selfie, looked at it afterward, and thought, That's not even what I look like!

The problem was likely wide-angle distortion, the property of smartphone lenses (and other superwide cameras) that renders their subjects a bit odd-looking and cartoonish.

Fortunately, there's a simple way around the problem if you understand a bit about the optics of these devices.

Here's what you need to know:

SEE ALSO: Billions of people have the same favorite color and number, and scientists don't know why

Here's the thing: Looking like a normal human being in photos is hard.

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And smartphones don't make it easier.



Manufacturers build them with super-wide-angle lenses that can stretch and distort your face in unflattering ways.

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The most iconic Reuters photo from nearly every country in the world in 2016

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JAPAN

Reuters and its award-winning photographers are on almost every country on the globe.

2016 was a year of political upheaval, and Reuters was there to capture it. But they also made sure not to forget the more quotidian aspects of life.

These 142 photos — one for almost every country Reuters covered this year — don't capture the politicians who led their nations or the athletes who represented them on the world stage. They're about the everyday person just living their life.

Here are 142 photos that best represent almost every country in the world in 2016. 

AFGHANISTAN: Sharbat Gula, the green-eyed "Afghan Girl" whose 1985 photo in National Geographic became a symbol of her country's wars, arrives to meet President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul.



ALGERIA: Girls hug each other beside their school in a refugee camp in southern Algeria.



ANDORRA: A pack of riders cycle during the Tour de France from Vielha Val d'Aran, Spain to Andorre Arcalis, Andorra.



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The 22 most beautiful buildings in the world, according to architects

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Beijing forbidden4

Like paintings and sculptures, buildings can be beautiful works of art.

We asked architects to tell us the one building that's a game-changer for building design, inspired them to become architects, or that they simply find stunning.

Here are 22 of the most breathtaking buildings in the world, according to people who build them for a living.

SEE ALSO: Amazon just lost a huge seller because of fake products, a problem it denies is happening

The Parthenon in Athens, Greece.

"It's the quintessential beautiful architectural form," Tara Imani says. "The Corinthian columns, the use of entasis [a slight curve in columns] to make sure the columns didn't look spindly from a distance...the siting on a hilltop — it gave us our initial ABCs of architecture that we keep trying to use and improve upon today."

Imani is the founding architect of Tara Imani Designs.



The National Congress of Brazil in Brasília.

"In 1974, my father, a scientist took our family to see the new city of Brasília. It captured the imagination of the world," Julia Donoho says. "Planned in the shape of an airplane, Corbusian [the modern architectural style of Le Corbusier] housing blocks lined the wings like feathers, the body was filled with embassies, government buildings, cultural institutions, and a house of God." 

Donoho is the principal and project lead at Equinox Design and Development.



The São Paulo Museum of Art in São Paulo, Brazil.

"It is daring," Damaris Hollingsworth says. "Designed in 1968, it is made of concrete and glass. The main body is hung from the two beams and it barely touches the columns on the side. I also love the fact that it was designed by a woman."

Hollingsworth is the project manager for DLR Group.



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The best audio system I've ever heard in a car also sounds amazing at home

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Naim Bentley

The Naim audio system in the new Bentley Bentayga is the best I've ever heard. I took it out of the running for our Audio System of the Year for 2016 because we experienced the winner, Bowers & Wilkins, in more vehicles. 

But goodness, what a magnificent system Naim has developed for Bentley! I heard details in music I have never heard before — in songs and compositions I'd listened to many, many times.

Now Naim, a British company that has a stupendous reputation for high-end audio, has created a special collaboration with Bentley to introduce a sort of All-England brand mashup that you can enjoy in your home: Naim for Bentley. There are two choices, both borrowed from Naim's pricey, but impressive Mu-so lineup.

"With a striking new design, including delicately patterned aluminum skin and a knurled volume control reminiscent of classic Bentley styling, the new Naim for Bentley Mu-so and Mu-so Qb are packed with all the features any music lover could demand," Naim declares.

Naim let me borrow both the Mu-so and the Mu-so QB to check them out. I set them up at home and compared them with my own Sonos setup.

Here's how it went:

SEE ALSO: Bowers & Wilkins is Business Insider's 2016 Car Audio System of the Year

The Bentley Bentayga, a long-awaited SUV from the luxury brand. We sampled it earlier this year.



The interior is full-on-Bentley, quite luxurious. And due to the SUV's size and dimensions, it's an amazing place to to listen to music piped through the specially designed Naim Audio system.

According to Naim, the company's sound engineers developed the 32-bit digital signal processor (DSP) for the all-in-one home wireless speaker systems, based on the work they did for Bentley's in-car audio setups.

This was the challenge I set out for the home systems: Would they sounds as good as the system in the Bentayga? 

I'm not an audiophile, but I do listen to a lot of music, at home in the car's we test at BI. So I felt that I was reasonably qualified to make a judgment.



So, to the homefront. The Mu-so can be had for about $1,700. Yes, that makes it a very pricey choice for multi-room home audio — you have to spend a lot to get a second speaker — not to mention a Bluetooth capable system.

The original Mu-so is completely crammed with advanced audio technology. The total power output is 450 watts. The systems utilizes six speakers, each powered by its own 75-watt amplifier. 

Managing it all it is, according to Naim, a "32-bit digital signal processor capable of millions of calculations per second."

At base, Mu-so is a versatile unit. You can stream audio using various formats, but you can also plug straight into an aux or USB port, and you can pair up using Bluetooth. You can also establish a home wifi network with multiple Mu-so units to have Sonos-like multi-room audio.

The original system can also be customized for its aesthetics.

It's an exquisitely crafted hunk of fiberboard and aluminum, with impeccable finishing. Yet it's relatively compact. It fit neatly on several small tables and a cabinet in my house, and it could be located easily enough on a shelf.

 



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A 24-year-old from a 'little bubble in South Jersey' explains how he's building his own business while traveling the world

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Lennon Wall

Eddie Contento belongs on the road.

The 24-year-old graphic designer realized it while traveling around the US with his then-girlfriend, bouncing from state to state every month. She eventually wanted to settle down and stay in one place for a while, but he had already fallen in love with his nomadic lifestyle.

He set his sights on working and traveling internationally, and now, he runs his own business on the road as he visits everywhere from Serbia to Prague. Here's how he does it:

SEE ALSO: A 29-year-old who's been traveling the world for 4 years explains how he affords it

Originally from New Jersey, Contento has been traveling since he graduated from high school, working out of cafés and coworking spaces across the country.

"Working remotely is the only way I know how to work," he said. "I don't think I would ever want to work out of an office."

However, his business partner is in Philadelphia, and managing the time difference abroad can be tricky. "I'm bouncing between time zones and developing some kind of insomnia," he said.



The main reason he's been able to work remotely for so long is that he's tech savvy.

"I'm the one people ask questions to. I always try to have the most up-to-date devices and software if I can afford it," Contento said. "I spend more on electronics than I should."

Contento is the vice president of Chop Dawg, a design development agency that creates logos and websites for startups. The nature of his job allows him to create a flexible schedule. He schedules meetings with clients early in the week, and then for the rest of the week he either explores during the day and works at night, or vice versa.



He's currently on the road for an entire year.

Contento signed up for Remote Year, a program that invites 75 professionals to travel to 12 different countries. He set off for a yearlong adventure, which he documents on his vlog.

"I thrive in this environment," he said. "I'm surrounded by brilliant people that push me. We have similar goals and ambitions — whether it's to see the world or grow our businesses — and it's nice to do them together."

He's the youngest in the program. One friend in his group is 30 years older than him. "There is no age in Remote Year," he said. "Just personalities."



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A couple who left their jobs to spend 3 months traveling the world explains why they chose to come home when they had time and money to spare

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Brandon and Jill early retirement

Mid-2016, Brandon — better known as the Mad Fientist— retired at just 34 years old.

"It's always been about 'financial independence' for me and not really 'early retirement,'" Brandon, who doesn't use his last name online for privacy reasons, told Business Insider. "I never wanted to stop working, but rather I wanted to have the time and freedom to work on things that are important to me."

And what did he and his wife Jill want to do?

Travel.

A few years ago, the pair devised a lifestyle plan to visit their families in the US and Scotland and take some international adventures, they shared on a recent episode of Brandon's "Financial Independence Podcast."

"We had decided that we were going to spend — I think it was originally six months in Scotland for me working and seeing my friends and family," Jill explained. "And then, we would do three months in the States where I wouldn't be working. We could just spend that time traveling around and seeing people, and then three months traveling anywhere else in the world."

At the time, Brandon was working as a software developer and had managed to save and invest about 70% of his after-tax income as he worked toward becoming financially independent. Jill, however, chose to continue working as an optometrist.

Once Brandon stopped working, Jill took an unpaid leave of absence from her job and they set off for Southeast Asia. They were living the dream ... sort of.

After three months on the road, they realized they'd had enough.

"I know other people can travel full-time or travel a lot more than that," Jill said on the podcast. "But I think for us, we definitely realized that that's about the maximum that it continues to be fun for us, and then it starts feeling too much like normal life and you start focusing more on the stressful parts of it and things."

Brandon agreed, adding that it's difficult for him to answer emails and run the Mad Fientist blog from the road. "There's just not a lot of time when you're traveling because you're either looking into hotels and places to eat all the time or trying to figure out what you're going to go and do next," Brandon said.

Brandon and Jill early retirementAnd it wasn't just the challenge of traveling internationally that got old. The three-month rule applies when they travel around the US as well.

"We realized that three months of doing that is too much, too, because it's great seeing people but you don't want to feel like you're imposing when you're coming in and just being like, 'Hey, I'm going to stay for a month,'" Brandon said. "Well, no, they've got their own lives that they're doing and you don't want to impose on that." 

The couple doesn't think they'll ever land on a "perfect plan," but instead continue to experiment and adapt.

"It will just change as we get older. It's really hard to know what you're going to want in five or ten years time and plan all that out," Jill said, adding that they're hoping to plan more trips where they meet up or travel with friends or family, "because that kind of makes it more rewarding than just picking a place to go and see for the sake of it."

"I think we just sort of plan out the next couple of years, which, at the moment, it's looking like being a lot more based in Scotland," she said. "I don't think you ever get to a point where that's 'perfect.'"

SEE ALSO: A woman who chose to keep working when her husband retired at 34 explains the honeymoon conversation that set them on that path

DON'T MISS: A man who retired at 34 explains one bad savings habit that everyone should avoid

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This icicle-covered waterfall in China is breathtakingly beautiful

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Temperatures around the Hokou Waterfall in China recently dropped well below freezing, creating a spectacular view of icicles all around the water's edge. The waterfall is part of the Yellow River, and even colder temperatures are expected — which means more icicles could form soon.

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