Bas Sterwijk’s AI-Generated Portraits of Historical Figures

Amsterdam-based freelance photographer Bas Sterwijk utilized GAN (generative adversarial network) technology through the program artbreeder to construct the hyper-realistic photographs of famous historical figures for his A.I. Generated Portraits series. Sterwijk feeds the deep-learning network numerous images—often of paintings or sculptures—and then edits the resulting “genuine portrait.” From Queen Elizabeth and Jesus to Michelangelo’s David and Van Gogh, the photographer’s subjects come to life in …

Pantone’s Super-Fast Color Match App

With a pocket-sized card and an app, Pantone has made identifying colors incredibly easy and fast. Users simply download the Pantone Connect app (available on iOS and android), place the laminated card over the hue they want to match (with the card’s window exposing the selected color), and align their phone to the correct angle for the app to snap a picture and find the …

The History of the Firehouse Pole

During the 19th century, firefighters in the United States had two ways to make their way from their beds to their horse and buggy: “spiral staircase—installed to keep wayward horses from wandering upstairs—or through a tube chute.” That was until the ingenious David Kenyon installed a pole at Chicago’s all-Black firefighter Company 21 firehouse. Kenyon had seen a colleague use a “wooden pole normally used …