Couch to 5K, abbreviated C25K, is an exercise plan that gradually progresses from beginner running toward a 5 kilometre (3.1 mile) run over nine weeks. == Operations == The Couch to 5K running plan, also known as C25K, created by Josh Clark in 1996, was developed with the expectation of creating a plan for new runners to start running. The plan is aimed to have users work out for 20 to 30 minutes, three days a week. Within the program, users can be expected to perform different tasks such as intervals of running with period of short walks in between to help build endurance in the weeks up to the final goal of a 5K run. During the nine weeks leading up to the race, the runner will learn to set their own pace and where their strengths and weaknesses are within running. Often, the daily workouts start with a five-minute warm-up walk and works up to running five kilometres without a walking break within nine weeks. Users are not expected to have any experience in running and can be some of the first running that they ever do. The main goal is to turn that unexperienced runner into someone who can run a 5K. Clark started the website Kick and featured C25K on the site. In 2001, Kick merged with Cool Running, a New England–based running site. Clark later sold his stake in Cool Running and the Couch to 5K program. Cool Running was absorbed into Active.com, operated by Active Network, LLC. Active Network provides mobile apps for Couch to 5K, as well as 5K to 10K, a follow-up program. The NHS in the UK provides downloadable podcasts and a smartphone app (Android and iOS) for the plan. A mobile app, created by Zen Labs, has training plans that are based on the Couch to 5K running plan from CoolRunning.com. It is one of the highest-rated health and fitness apps available on Android and iOS. As of 2016, the C25K app has been used by over 5 million people.
Collabora Online
Collabora Online (often abbreviated as COOL) is an open-source online office suite developed by Collabora, based on LibreOffice Online, the web-based edition of the LibreOffice office suite. It enables real-time collaborative editing of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and vector graphics in a web browser. Optional applications are available for offline use on Android, ChromeOS, iOS, iPadOS, Linux distributions, macOS, and Windows. It supports the OpenDocument format and is compatible with other major formats, including those used by Microsoft Office. The Document Foundation (TDF), the nonprofit organization behind LibreOffice, states that a majority of the LibreOffice software development is done by its partners like Collabora. Collabora Online is an open-source alternative to proprietary cloud office platforms such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Unlike these services, it can be self-hosted or hosted by third-party providers. The platform is marketed particularly toward enterprises and public institutions seeking greater digital sovereignty and independence from U.S.-based "big tech" companies. Collabora also develops Collabora Office, a standalone desktop and mobile app suite based on LibreOffice. Although Collabora Online has increasingly taken on a central role, both products may be used in parallel, similar to Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365. In November 2025, Collabora released Collabora Office Desktop and renamed the previous product Collabora Office Classic. The new product shares code with Collabora Online and brings the same user interface to the desktop on Linux, Windows and MacOS. A separate version, the Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE), is offered free of charge and is recommended for individuals, small teams, and developers. CODE provides early access to new features and serves as a testing and development platform for open-source community contributors. As TDF does not offer a free version of LibreOffice Online, CODE represents the primary freely available option for organizations and individuals interested in deploying LibreOffice in a web-based, collaborative setting. == Applications == Collabora Online includes several applications for document editing, available through the web-based interface and optional desktop and mobile apps: Collabora Writer – A word processor based on LibreOffice Writer, comparable to Microsoft Word and Google Docs. It supports WYSIWYG editing, styles, formatting tools, comment threads, and change tracking. Collabora Calc – A spreadsheet editor based on LibreOffice Calc, similar to Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Features include pivot tables, formulas, data validation, conditional formatting, advanced sorting and filtering, charts, and support for up to 16,000 columns. Compatible with some macros written in VBA. Collabora Impress – A presentation program based on LibreOffice Impress, comparable to Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides. It supports master slides, transitions, speaker notes, and multimedia elements. Collabora Draw is not a separate application, most of the functionality of the Draw application is now integrated in Writer and Impress – vector graphics editor based on LibreOffice Draw, comparable to Microsoft Visio and Google Drawings. == Features == Collabora Online can be accessed from modern web browsers without the need for plug-ins or add-ons. It supports real-time collaborative editing of word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and vector graphics. Collaboration features include commenting, version tracking with document comparison and restoration, and integration with communication tools such as chat or video calls. These functions are often enabled through integration with enterprise open-source cloud platforms like Nextcloud, ownCloud, Seafile, EGroupware, GroupOffice and others. Collabora Online can also be embedded or integrated into a variety of third-party applications. Although client apps are not required to use the web-based suite, optional applications are available for offline use on Android, ChromeOS, iOS, iPadOS, Linux distributions, macOS, and Windows. These apps share the same LibreOffice-based core as the server version, ensuring document compatibility across platforms. Development of the LibreOffice core benefits both the online server and the client applications simultaneously. The mobile apps offer touch-optimized interfaces that adapt to different screen sizes and can be used offline, with optional integration into cloud storage services. Collabora Online supports OpenDocument formats (ODF; .odt, .odp, .ods, .odg) in accordance with ISO/IEC 26300. It is also compatible with Microsoft Office formats, including Office Open XML (.docx, .pptx, .xlsx) and legacy binary formats (.doc, .ppt, .xls). Additional supported formats include PDF, PNG, CSV, TSV, RTF, EPUB, and others. The suite can import a range of formats supported by LibreOffice, including Microsoft Visio and Publisher files, Apple Keynote, Numbers, and Pages files, as well as legacy formats used by Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft Works, and Quattro Pro. The core of Collabora Online is written in C++ and utilizes LibreOfficeKit, a programming interface that enables reuse of much of LibreOffice's existing code for document saving, loading, and rendering. Collabora Online operates on the principle that documents remain on the server, with users viewing tile-rendered images of the document and sending their edits back to the server. The user interface is implemented in JavaScript. For file access and authentication with file hosting services, Collabora Online uses Microsoft's WOPI protocol, allowing compatibility with any service supporting Microsoft 365 integration. == Server == The server component can be self-hosted or deployed through third-party enterprise open-source cloud platforms, allowing organizations to maintain control over data and infrastructure. It is available for various Linux distributions and as a Docker image. The server enables features such as in-browser document editing, file synchronization, and real-time communication. These third-party cloud platforms typically offer additional functionality comparable to services such as Dropbox, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Zoom, including file sharing, calendars, email, contacts, chat, and video conferencing. Collabora Online can be integrated into these applications, as well as with other services such as learning management systems and enterprise content platforms, through open APIs and an SDK. == Reception == Various online and print publications have discussed Collabora Online. In December 2016 the technology website Softpedia mentioned the availability of collaborative editing in version 2.0 and the integration with ownCloud, Nextcloud, and other file synchronization and sharing solutions. In June 2020, ZDNET reported that Collabora Online would be included as the standard office suite in Nextcloud version 19, noting that direct document editing was added to the native video conferencing software Talk. The technology blog OMG! Ubuntu! covered the release of Collabora's Android and iOS apps, emphasizing their offline functionality. In September 2020, Linux Magazine compared Collabora Online with OnlyOffice, noting the flexibility and platform independence of both tools and highlighting Collabora's extensive feature set derived from LibreOffice. === Digital sovereignty === Collabora Online's open-source design and support for self-hosting have made it notable in discussions about digital sovereignty—the ability of users and organizations to control their own data. This is particularly relevant in Europe, where concerns about dependence on U.S.-based "big tech" companies and data privacy have grown in recent years. On 10th June 2025, Microsoft executives under oath in the French Senate admitted that they cannot guarantee data sovereignty and would be compelled to pass French (and by implication the wider European Union) information to the US administration if requested via a warrant or subpoena. The Cloud Act is a law that gives the US government authority to obtain digital data held by US-based tech corporations, irrespective of whether that data is stored on servers at home or on foreign soil. A 2020 briefing by the European Parliament highlighted risks associated with reliance on major technology companies that collect and exploit user data. Legal decisions such as the Schrems II ruling have further underscored these concerns. Several European government agencies have adopted private cloud solutions using Collabora Online and related platforms to enhance data security and maintain control over sensitive information. == History == The former LibreOffice development team from SUSE joined Collabora in September 2013, forming the subsidiary Collabora Productivity. In 2015 Collabora and IceWarp announced the development of an enterprise-ready version of LibreOffice Online to compete wi
Armin B. Cremers
Armin Bernd Cremers (born June 7, 1946) is a German mathematician and computer scientist. He is a professor in the computer science institute at the University of Bonn, Germany. He is most notable for his contributions to several fields of discrete mathematics including formal languages and automata theory. In more recent years he has been recognized for his work in artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics as well as in geoinformatics and deductive databases. == Life and work == Armin B. Cremers studied mathematics and physics at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. After his graduate diploma (1971) and PhD (1972), both in mathematics, both summa cum laude, he received his academic lectureship qualification for computer science (1974), all from the University of Karlsruhe. Following an invitation by Seymour Ginsburg, he joined the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, in 1973 where he worked until 1976 as an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science. With Ginsburg he initiated Grammar Forms, a new formalism for grammatical families. In 1976 A. B. Cremers returned to Germany and was appointed to full professor of computer science at the University of Dortmund, where he remained until 1990, holding the chair for information systems. During the same time he continued working as a visiting research professor at USC, where together with Thomas N. Hibbard he developed the concept of Data Spaces, a comprehensive computational model, in theory and applications. At the University of Dortmund A. B. Cremers served as chairman of the computer science department and, since early 1985, as vice president for Research and Junior Scientific Staff. In this position he was liaison for the development of the Technology Center Dortmund Archived 2021-05-09 at the Wayback Machine. He was the initiator and founding director of the Center for Expert Systems Dortmund (ZEDO) and the NRW State Research Collaborative in Artificial Intelligence (KI-NRW). From 1988 to 1996 he was also a member of the supervisory board of the German National Research Center for Mathematics and Data Processing (GMD). Since 1990 A. B. Cremers has been professor and director of computer science and head of the research group in artificial intelligence at the University of Bonn. From Bonn he has contributed fundamentally to artificial intelligence and robotics (with Wolfram Burgard, Dieter Fox, Sebastian Thrun among his students), and to the development of software engineering, particularly in civil engineering, and information systems, particularly in the geosciences. The paper "The Interactive Museum Tour-Guide Robot" won the AAAI Classic Paper award of 2016. Together with Matthias Jarke A. B. Cremers established the Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology (B-IT) in 2001 and led this as Founding Scientific Director from the University of Bonn side until his retirement from teaching in 2014. From 2004 to 2008 Cremers was Dean of the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and from April 2009 to July 2014 University Vice President for Planning and Finance. He is member of advisory boards, e.g., as well as Chairman of the University Council of the University of Koblenz-Landau.
Bixby (software)
Bixby ( ) is a virtual assistant developed by Samsung Electronics that runs on various Samsung-branded appliances, primarily mobile devices but also some refrigerators televisions and PCs. It uses voice commands and a natural-language user interface to answer questions and perform tasks, while adapting to the users' preferences and behavior. Samsung first launched Bixby in 2017. Along with Bixby voice assistant, its other main component currently is Bixby Vision, a contextual and visual search augmented reality camera app. Formerly, the Bixby suite consisted of a number of other tools, but these have since been renamed, such as Bixby Routines (now Modes and Routines). == History == On 20 March 2017, Samsung announced the voice-powered digital assistant named "Bixby" as a replacement of the S Voice assistant. It was introduced alongside the Galaxy S8 and S8+ and the Galaxy Tab A (2017) during the Galaxy Unpacked 2017 event. Although released for these devices, it could also be sideloaded on older Galaxy devices running Android Nougat. Before the phone's release, the Bixby Button was reprogrammable and could be set to open other applications or assistants, such as Google Assistant. However, near the phone's release, this ability was removed with a firmware update. Remapping remained possible through third-party apps. Bixby was launched in Korean on 1 May 2017 (KST). Bixby Voice was intended to be made available in the US later that spring. However, Samsung postponed the release, as Bixby had issues understanding English. The English version was finally rolled out in July 2017, followed by a Chinese language version later that year. In October 2017, Samsung announced the release of Bixby 2.0 during its annual developer conference in San Francisco. The new version was rolled out across the company's line of connected products, including smartphones, TVs, and refrigerators. Third parties were allowed to develop applications for Bixby using the Samsung Developer Kit. In August 2018, Samsung announced the Bixby-integrated Galaxy Home smart speaker. In 2019, UX developers at Samsung stated that they intended to use AR Emoji avatars as a personified Bixby assistant. At SDC19, Samsung displayed the Galaxy Home Mini speaker, which also supported Bixby. Bixby 3.0 was released with One UI 3 at the start of 2021. With version 3.0, Home and Reminders features were separated from Bixby. In June 2021, screenshots surfaced for what some thought as a replacement for Bixby. The three-dimensional virtual assistant, Sam, was popular on social media, though it was not intended as a replacement for Bixby. Bixby launched for Microsoft Windows in October 2021, with distribution through the Microsoft Store. This version of Bixby was optimized for Samsung's Galaxy Book computers. Samsung launched an AI Bixby custom voice creator in 2023, allowing users to record their own voice commands. Most recently, in July 2024, Samsung confirmed that it plans to launch an upgraded version of Bixby later that year. This new Bixby would be powered by Samsung's proprietary large language model (LLM) technology, promising a significant boost to Bixby's capabilities with the help of generative AI. In January 2025, with the announcement of Galaxy S25 and the One UI 7 update, Bixby was no longer the default voice assistant, having been replaced by Google Gemini. Despite this, Bixby still continued to be developed and expanded by Samsung and was revamped at the same time with new AI capabilities. Samsung brought the "smarter" Bixby to Samsung televisions, allowing users to speak to their TV sets and control their homes with it. A visual refresh was planned for One UI 8.5. == Functionality == Bixby is a voice assistant developed by Samsung that provides device control, information retrieval, and task automation using voice input and artificial intelligence. It can answer contextual queries, adjust system settings, perform searches, and manage reminders or schedules. The service also personalizes responses by recognizing individual user voices. Bixby itself was also formerly called Bixby Voice to differentiate from other Bixby tools in the suite. === Bixby Vision === Bixby Vision is a visual recognition feature that analyzes images captured through the device camera and provides context-specific information or actions. It combines on-device processing with cloud-based AI resources to identify objects, detect text, and interpret scenes within supported applications. It comes pre-installed on Samsung Galaxy phones. It is considered to be the imaging component of Bixby. ==== Translate ==== Detects foreign text in the camera view and provides real-time translation by overlaying translated text on the preview. ==== Text ==== Uses optical character recognition(OCR) to extract printed or handwritten text for copying, searching, or sharing. ==== Discover ==== Identifies consumer products, fashion items, or furniture and retrieves visually similar items or related online information. ==== Wine ==== Recognizes wine labels and provides information such as variety, region of origin, average price, and reviews. ==== Scene Describer ==== Generates written and spoken descriptions of captured scenes, supporting accessibility for users with visual impairments. ==== Object Identifier ==== Identifies plants, animals, food items, or landmarks and displays corresponding names or classification details. ==== Text Reader ==== Converts detected text into spoken audio using text-to-speech functionality. ==== Color Detector ==== Identifies and names colors within the frame, displaying or reading the recognized color aloud. === Former Bixby tools === Bixby Home was a vertically scrolling home screen displaying cards of information such as weather, fitness activity, and smart home controls. It was renamed Samsung Daily with the release of One UI 2.1 in 2020, then replaced by Samsung Free in One UI 3.0. Samsung Free was eventually discontinued in some markets. Its successor, Samsung News, now functions as a news aggregation service with optional home-screen integration similar to Bixby Home. Bixby Routines was an automation feature that allowed users to create custom rules based on triggers such as time, location, or device conditions. Beginning with One UI 5.0, it was renamed Modes and Routines. Bixby Text Call, introduced in One UI 5.0 (2022) in select regions, enabled users to handle incoming calls via speech-to-text conversion and vice versa. It is now named simply Text Call and can be found in the Phone app settings. Bixby Touch allowed users to trigger context-aware actions by touching on-screen content. It analyzed images, text, and other visual elements displayed on the device and provided related options such as translation, image search, product lookup, or other content-based information. Several of its capabilities overlapped with, or were later superseded by, features offered through Bixby Vision. Other legacy components including Bixby Touch, Bixby Global Action, Bixby Dictation, and Bixby Wakeup, formed part of the early Bixby suite and have since been phased out, though exact discontinuation details vary by region. == Regions and languages == As of April 2018, Bixby is available in over 195 countries, but only in Korean, English (American), and Chinese (Mandarin). The limitation is that the models not intended for the Japanese market, like S10e, are not allowed to login to Bixby services from Japan; therefore Bixby becomes blocked. The choice of languages has since expanded: Samsung has deployed Bixby's voice command function in French, and on 20 February 2019 Samsung announced the addition of further languages: English (British), German, Italian and Spanish (Spain). On 22 February 2020, Samsung announced the addition of Portuguese (Brazil), for Galaxy S10 & Note10, in Beta, and later for other models. == Compatible devices == === Flagship series === Galaxy S series: All models since Galaxy S7 Galaxy Tab S: All models since Galaxy Tab S4 Galaxy Note: All models since Galaxy Note FE and Galaxy Note 8 Galaxy Z series: All models === Other series === Galaxy A Galaxy A6/A6+ (Bixby Home, Reminder and Vision) Galaxy A7 (2017) (available to users in South Korea only; Bixby Home and Reminder only) Galaxy A7 (2018) (Bixby Home, Reminder and Vision only) Galaxy A8 (2018) (including A8 Star; Bixby Home, Reminder and Vision only; S Voice used instead) Galaxy A8s (Bixby Home, Reminder and Vision only) Galaxy A9 (2018)/A9s/A9 Star Pro (including A9 Star and A9 Star Lite; Bixby Home, Reminder and Vision only; S Voice used instead) Galaxy A9 Pro (2019) (Bixby Home, Reminder and Vision only) Galaxy A20 (Bixby Home and Service) Galaxy A21s Galaxy A30s (Bixby Home, Vision, Reminder and Routines) Galaxy A40 (Bixby Home and Reminder) Galaxy A41 (Bixby Home, Vision, Routines and Reminder) Galaxy A50 (Bixby Home, Voice, Vision, Reminder and Routines) Galaxy A50s (Bixby Home, Voice, Vision, Reminder and Routines) G
Katia Sycara
Ekaterini Panagiotou Sycara (Greek: Κάτια Συκαρά) is a Greek computer scientist. She is an Edward Fredkin Research Professor of Robotics in the Robotics Institute, School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University internationally known for her research in artificial intelligence, particularly in the fields of negotiation, autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. She directs the Advanced Agent-Robotics Technology Lab at Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. She also serves as academic advisor for PhD students at both Robotics Institute and Tepper School of Business. == Education and early life == Born in Greece, she went to the United States to pursue advanced education through various scholarships, including a Fulbright (1965-1969). She received a B.S. in applied mathematics from Brown University, M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and PhD in computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology. == Research and career == Sycara is a pioneer in the field of semantic web, case-based reasoning, autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. She has authored or co-authored more than 700 technical papers dealing with multi-agent systems, software agents, web services, semantic web, human–computer interaction, human-robot interaction, negotiation, case-based reasoning and the application of these techniques to crisis action planning, scheduling, manufacturing, healthcare management, financial planning and e-commerce.[1] She has led multimillion-dollar research effort funded by DARPA, NASA, AFOSR, ONR, AFRL, NSF and industry. Through an ONR MURI program and though the COABS DARPA program, Prof. Sycara's group has developed the RETSINA multiagent infrastructure, a toolkit that enables the development of heterogeneous software agents that can dynamically coordinate in open information environments (e.g. the Internet). RETSINA has been used in multiple applications including supporting human joint mission teams for crisis response; creating autonomous agents for situation awareness and information fusion; financial portfolio management, negotiations and coalition formation for e-commerce, and coordinating robots for Urban Search and Rescue. Sycara is one of the contributors to the development of OWL-S, the Darpa-sponsored language for Semantic Web services, as well as matchmaking and brokering software for agent discovery, service integration and semantic interoperation. === Academic service === Sycara is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems; Editor-in-Chief, of the Springer Series on Agents; and Area Editor of AI and Management Science, the journal "Group Decision and Negotiation." She is a member of the Editorial Board, the Kluwer book series on "Multiagent Systems, Artificial Societies and Simulated Organizations"; member of the editorial board, the journals "Agent Oriented Software Engineering", "Web Intelligence and Agent Technologies", "Journal of Infonomics", "Fundamenda Informaticae", and "Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications"; and member of the editorial board of the "ETAI journal on the Semantic Web" (1998–2001). She was on the Editorial Board of "IEEE Intelligent Systems and their Applications" (1992–1996), and "AI in Engineering" (1990–1996). She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of France Telecom, 2003-2009; member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications of the Greek National Research Center Demokritos, 2004-2012; member of the AAAI Executive Council (1996–99); member of the OASIS Technical committee on the development of UDDI (Universal Description and Discovery for Interoperability) software which is an industry standard; and an invited expert for W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium) Working Group on Web Services Architecture. She was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the International Foundation of Multiagent Systems (IFMAS), and founding member of the Semantic Web Science Association. Sycara served as the program chair of the Second International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC 2003); general chair, of the Second International Conference on Autonomous Agents (Agents 98); chair of the Steering Committee of the Agents Conference (1999–2001); scholarship chair of AAAI (1993–1999); and the US co-chair for the US-Europe Semantic Web Services Initiative. === Awards and honors === Sycara is a Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a Fellow of American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). Sycara is the recipient of the 2002 ACM/SIGART Agents Research Award. She is also the recipient of the 2015 Group Decision and Negotiation (GDN) Award of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) GDN Section for her outstanding contributions to the field of group decision and negotiation. According to the citation of the award: Katia Sycara is widely acknowledged as one of the leading researchers in the field of autonomous software agents and in particular on problems related to joint decision making and negotiations of such agents. Her work is characterized by a unique combination of methods from Artificial Intelligence and research on human negotiations, and thus has contributed to significant advances in both fields. Sycara's robot teams have won multiple international awards. In the 2005 Robocup Urban Search and Rescue (US Open) held in Atlanta, her team won the First-in-Class Award for Autonomy, and the First-in-Class Award for Mobility. Two years later, again in Atlanta, she led another team that became a world champions in the 2007 International Robocup Search and Rescue Simulation League Competition. In 2008, her robotic team placed third in the Worldwide Robocup Championship Competition in the Urban Search and Rescue Virtual robots League held in Beijing, China. In 2005, she received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Aegean in 2004.
Boris FX
Boris FX is a visual effects, video editing, photography, and audio software plug-in developer based in Miami, Florida, USA. The developer is known for its flagship products, Continuum (formerly Boris Continuum Complete/BCC), Sapphire, Mocha, and Silhouette. Boris FX creates plug-in tools for feature film, broadcast television, and multimedia post-production workflows. The plug-ins are compatible with various NLEs, including Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, Apple Final Cut Pro, and OFX hosts such as Autodesk Flame, Foundry Nuke, Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve and Fusion, and VEGAS Pro. Boris FX has incorporated artificial intelligence into its software, introducing features for noise reduction, rotoscoping, upscaling, and masking. The company has acquired technologies via mergers and acquisitions from Imagineer Systems, GenArts, Silhouette FX, Digital Film Tools, CrumplePop and Andersson Technologies to expand its visual effects, editing, photography, and audio tools. == History == Boris FX was founded in 1995 by Boris Yamnitsky. The former Media 100 engineer (a member of the original Media 100 launch team in 1993) released “Boris FX,” the first plug-in-based digital video effects (DVE) for Adobe Premiere and Media 100, in 1995. The plug-in won Best of Show at Apple Macworld in Boston, MA that same year. The Boris FX Suite includes a range of visual effects and post-production tools, such as Sapphire, Continuum, Mocha Pro, Silhouette, SynthEyes, CrumplePop, Optics, and Particle Illusion. == Media 100 == In October 2005, Yamnitsky acquired Media 100 the company that launched his plug-in career. Boris FX had a long relationship with Media 100 which bundled Boris RED software as its main titling and compositing solution. Media 100's video editing software is available as freeware for macOS. == Continuum == Continuum is a visual effect and compositing plugin suite that includes a library of over 300 effects and more than 40 transitions, including tools for image restoration, compositing, titling, particle generation, and stylized effects, along with features such as lens flares, lighting effects, and cinematic color grading presets. A key component of Continuum is its integration with the Mocha planar tracking and masking system, enabling advanced tracking and rotoscoping within the effects. The suite also includes Particle Illusion, a real-time particle generator used for creating visual effects such as explosions, smoke, and abstract motion graphics, as well as Primatte Studio, a chroma keying and compositing toolset for green screen and blue screen workflows. Continuum supports GPU acceleration and offers compatibility with HDR and 360/VR content. Regular updates introduce new effects, presets, and performance enhancements to expand its capabilities. In October 2018, Continuum relaunched Particle Illusion, a Mocha Essentials workflow with magnetic edge-snapping, and updates to Title Studio. In October 2019, Continuum introduced Corner Pin Studio with built-in Mocha tracking for quick screen replacement and inserts, 6 stylized transitions, and 4 creative effects. In October 2020, Continuum released an update that included over 80 GPU-accelerated effects such as film stocks, color grades, optical filter simulations, and a digital gobo library. The update also introduced a custom FX Editor interface, real-time particles, and more than 1,000 drag-and-drop presets. In November 2021, it added multi-frame rendering for After Effects, native Apple M1 support, fluid dynamics in Particle Illusion, and 60 color-grade presets. In October 2022, the software introduced 10 additional transitions, a revised Particle Illusion workflow, an atmospheric glow effect, and more than 250 curated presets. Continuum plugins have been used in television, streaming, and film projects, including A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO/HBO Max), Star Trek: Discovery (CBS), Andor (Disney+), The Curse of Oak Island (History Channel), Keeping up with the Kardashians (E!), This Old House (PBS), Ms. Marvel (Disney+), MasterChef (Fox), WipeOut (TBS), The Boys (Prime Video), and The Today Show (NBC). == Mocha Pro == In December 2014, Boris FX merged with Imagineer Systems, the UK-based developer of the Academy Award-winning planar motion tracking software, Mocha Pro. Mocha Pro's features include planar tracking (motion tracking), rotoscoping, image stabilization, 3D camera tracking, and object removal. In June 2016, Mocha released (v5) which introduced Mocha Pro's tools as plug-ins for Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, and OFX hosts Foundry's NUKE, Blackmagic Design Fusion, VEGAS Pro, and HitFilm. A simplified version, Mocha AE, is included with Adobe After Effects Creative Cloud and has been bundled with the software since CS4. A similar version is also available with HitFilm Pro from FXhome and VEGAS Pro. Mocha's tracking SDK is integrated into other visual effects tools, including SAM Quantel Pablo Rio, Silhouette FX, CoreMelt, and Motion VFX. Mocha Pro has been used in various film and television productions, including Birdman, Black Swan, the Harry Potter series, The Hobbit, Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Star Trek: Discovery, and The Umbrella Academy. It has also been employed in projects such as Gone Girl, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Game of Thrones, and House of Cards. == Sapphire == GenArts, founded by Karl Sims in 1996, developed visual effects plug-ins that were used by studios and post-production facilities. In September 2016, Boris FX merged with former competitor, GenArts, Inc., developer of Sapphire high-end visual effects plug-ins, to expand its suite of motion graphics and VFX tools. The merger brought Sapphire alongside Boris Continuum Complete (BCC) and Mocha Pro, integrating these tools for film and television post-production. The Sapphire suite includes a library of over 270 effects and transitions, organized into categories such as lighting, stylization, distortions, textures, and transitions. Commonly used effects include glows, lens flares, film looks, and blurs. The plug-ins are designed to be GPU-accelerated, allowing for improved rendering performance and real-time previews in supported host applications. A central feature of Sapphire is the Builder tool, a node-based workspace that allows users to create custom effects and transitions by combining multiple Sapphire plug-ins. This enables a high level of creative flexibility and reusability, making it a popular tool for both editors and VFX artists. Sapphire also integrates with Mocha, Boris FX's planar tracking and masking system, allowing for advanced control of visual elements within an effect. In October 2017, Boris FX released its first new version of Sapphire since the GenArts acquisition. Sapphire (v11) now includes integrated Mocha tracking and masking tools. Sapphire is available for Adobe, Avid, the Autodesk Flame family, and OFX hosts including Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve and Fusion, and Foundry's NUKE. As part of the merger, Boris FX acquired the rights to Particle Illusion. In 2018, Boris FX reintroduced the product to the larger NLE/Compositing market. Sapphire's plug-ins transitioned from C to C++ to improve performance and support higher-resolution visual effects. This update enhanced floating-point calculations, compatibility with film editing APIs, and integration with NVIDIA's CUDA for faster rendering. The plug-ins have been used in various films, including Avatar, the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Iron Man, The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix trilogy, Titanic, and X-Men. == Particle Illusion == As part of the merger with GenArts in 2016, Boris FX acquired the rights to the Particle Illusion (formerly particleIllusion) product, a storied particle system from the original developer Alan Lorence, the founder of Wondertouch. In 2018, Boris FX released a redesigned version of the product to a larger NLE/compositing market as part of Continuum (2019). The new Particle Illusion plug-in supports Adobe, Avid, and many OFX hosts. == Silhouette == In September 2019, Boris FX merged with SilhouetteFX, Academy Award-winning developer of Silhouette, a high-end digital paint, advanced rotoscoping, motion tracking, and node-based compositing application for visual effects in film post-production. The acquisition integrated Silhouette's advanced rotoscoping and paint technology, recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures, into Boris FX's suite of products, alongside Sapphire, Continuum, and Mocha Pro. In May 2021, Boris FX released Silhouette 2021, the first version of Silhouette released by Boris FX to function both as a standalone application and as a plug-in for Adobe, Autodesk, Nuke, and other OFX hosts. Silhouette has been used in the visual effects of films such as Avatar, Avengers: Infinity War, Blade Runner 2049, Ex Machina, and Interstellar. == Optics == In June 2020, Boris FX launched Optics, its first plugin deve
Bob Coecke
Bob Coecke (born 23 July 1968) is a Belgian theoretical physicist and logician. He was Professor of Quantum foundations, Logics, and Structures at Oxford University until 2020. He was Chief Scientist at quantum computing company Quantinuum, until 2025 and founded a startup called Relational Intelligence in 2026. He is also Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and Emeritus Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford. He pioneered categorical quantum mechanics (entry 18M40 in Mathematics Subject Classification 2020), Quantum Picturalism, ZX-calculus, DisCoCat model for natural language,, quantum natural language processing (QNLP) and quantum education through the book Quantum in Pictures. He is a founder of the Quantum Physics and Logic community and the Applied Category Theory communities and conference series, and of the journal Compositionality. Coecke is also a composer and musician, who has been called a pioneer of industrial music, and is also one of the pioneers of employing quantum computers in music. == Education and career == Coecke obtained his doctorate in sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1996, and performed postdoctoral work in the Theoretical Physics Group of Imperial College, London in the Category Theory Group of the Mathematics and Statistics Department at McGill University in Montreal, in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics of Cambridge University, and in the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford. He was an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow at the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, where he became Lecturer in Quantum Computer Science in 2007, and jointly with Samson Abramsky built and headed the Quantum Group. In July 2011, he was nominated professor of Quantum Foundations, Logics and Structures at Oxford University, with retroactive effect as of October 2010. He was a Governing Body Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford since 2007, where he now is an Emeritus Fellow. In January 2019, Coecke became Senior Scientific Advisor of Cambridge Quantum Computing, and in January 2021 he resigned from his Professorship at Oxford, to become Chief Scientist of Cambridge Quantum Computing. After the merger of Cambridge Quantum Computing with Honeywell Quantum Systems, he stayed on as Chief Scientist of the joint entity Quantinuum until 2025. In January 2023 he also became Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. == Work == Coecke's research focuses on the foundations of physics, more particularly category theory, logic, and diagrammatic reasoning, with application to quantum informatics, quantum gravity, and NLP. He has pioneered categorical quantum mechanics together with Samson Abramsky, and spearheaded the development of a diagrammatic quantum formalism based on Penrose graphical notation, on which he wrote a textbook entitled Picturing Quantum Processes with Aleks Kissinger. With Ross Duncan he pioneered ZX-calculus. He pioneered the DisCoCat model for natural language, with Stephen Clark and Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh. He also pioneered quantum natural language processing (QNLP), with Will Zeng, and colleagues at Cambridge Quantum Computing. == Music == Coecke is also a musician, performing and recording since the eighties. He retrospectively has been named a pioneer of industrial music. His band, Black Tish, "used cutting edge sampling techniques for the time, a host of synth and sound loops and metal-style guitars to create a heavy rock/electronica fusion unlike anything heard before", and "bridge the gap between the pure experimental nature of bands like Throbbing Gristle and Einstürzende Neubauten and the (comparatively) more radio accessible Ministry or Nine Inch Nails". Coecke is also one of the pioneers of employing quantum computers in music. == Selected publications == Textbooks Bob Coecke, Aleks Kissinger:Picturing Quantum Processes. A First Course in Quantum Theory and Diagrammatic Reasoning, Cambridge University Press, 2017, ISBN 978-1316219317 Bob Coecke, Stefano Gogioso:Quantum in Pictures, Quantinuum, 2022, ISBN 978-1-7392147-1-5 Books (as editor) Bob Coecke, David Moore, Alexander Wilce (eds.): Current Research in Operational Quantum Logic: Algebras, Categories, Languages, Fundamental Theories of Physics, Kluwer Academic, 2010, ISBN 978-9048154371 Bob Coecke (ed.): New Structures for Physics, Lecture Notes in Physics 813, Springer, 2011, ISBN 978-3642128202 Articles Bob Coecke: Kindergarten quantum mechanics, arXiv:quant-ph/0510032 Samson Abramsky, Bob Coecke: A categorical semantics of quantum protocols, Proceedings of the 19th Annual IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science, 2004, pp. 415–425 Bob Coecke, Ross Duncan: Interacting quantum observables, Automata, Languages and Programming, pp. 298–310, 2008 Konstantinos Meichanetzidis, Alexis Toumi, Giovanni de Felice, Bob Coecke: Grammar-Aware Question-Answering on Quantum Computers, arXiv:2012.03756 Bob Coecke: The Mathematics of Text Structure, arXiv:1904.03478 Will Zeng, Bob Coecke: Quantum Algorithms for Compositional Natural Language Processing, arXiv:1608.01406 Bob Coecke, Tobias Fritz, Robert Spekkens: A mathematical theory of resources, arXiv:1409.5531 Bob Coecke: An Alternative Gospel of structure: order, composition, processes, arxiv:1307.4038 Bob Coecke, Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh, Steven Clark: Mathematical Foundations for a Compositional Distributional Model of Meaning, arXiv:1003.4394 Bob Coecke: Quantum Picturalism, arXiv:0908.1787 Software articles Eduardo Reck Miranda, Richie Yeung, Anna Pearson, Konstantinos Meichanetzidis, Bob Coecke: A quantum natural language processing approach to musical intelligence, arXiv:2111.06741 Dimitri Kartsaklis, Ian Fan, Richie Yeung, Anna Pearson, Robin Lorenz, Alexis Toumi, Giovanni de Felice, Konstantinos Meichanetzidis, Stephen Clark, Bob Coecke: lambeq: An efficient high-level python library for quantum NLP, arXiv:2110.04236 Giovanni de Felice, Alexis Toumi, Bob Coecke: Discopy: monoidal categories in Python, arXiv:2111.06741