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virtual (background) problems require virtual solutions

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Reinhart Previano Koentjoro

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many software developers who love && use Linux agree that the Zoom experience on Linux sucks, and one of them is all about virtual backgrounds;

in short, unlike in Windows or macOS or iOS, you can only apply a virtual background in Zoom for Linux by using a chroma key; that means that Zoom for Linux requires you to have either a blue scree or green screen, or how about the infamous blue screen of death?

never mind, but, here’s an actual screenshot of virtual background settings when it comes to Zoom for Linux; yep, that’s definitely different than the ones you might see in Windows or macOS:

even the “blur” option does not work for me, idk if that requires havine an external GPU but i’m turning that Nvidia off cause it wastes more laptop power on Linux than as in Windows;

then, i thought about something; well, virtual backgrounds are supposed to hide your background which could be messy, irrelevant, or discomfort you and your colleagues; perhaps you’re conferencing from your messy bedroom, or there’s another one video conferencing at behind of you; i know right, ’cause i have the same situation here too!

but suddenly my cryptographically-secure random idea generator printf()s this interesting idea:

if you can’t hide your messy background, then hide your messy face!

// ’cause it will protect others’ faces from being visible, too!

so instead of applying my virtual background onto the back of me, what if i’m applying it the other way around;

and voila! i’ve hacked my body for some Matrix hype && pride on Instagram && TikTok:

@reinhart1010

just turned myself into the matrix thanks to ##zoom‘s poor ##virtualbackground support on ##linux;

♬ original sound – Reinhart Previano

well, sure, if Zoom for Linux start to differentiate me with my shirt (based on color) i’ve got some backup plans for me:

  • just applying that into my shirt, or
  • applying that into my skin, or
  • run that transformation with this magical trick from a specific GitHub repo;

goin’ to digital fashion hype, minus that AR && NFT thing;

applying that virtual background into my solid t-shirt is, in fact, also inspired by the trends of digital fashion; no, not those Bitmojis or virtual avatars, but beyond;

in recent years people have started to buy clothes && shoes which does NOT exist physically, && to ‘wear” them you’ll either need an AR app or email a pic of yourself to be edited, seriously!

but speaking about NFTs, no, ’cause i’ve some different opinions about the so-called blockchains, NFTs, smart contracts, “web 3.0” and so on; but that’s another story to tell, so stay tuned if i announce it for ya!

some last words[] for ya;

&& seriously, i’ll never be the same again thanks to the limitations of Zoom for Linux; not just be able to write codes for many projects, then able to speak programming languages in daily life (as recommended by Tim Cook in 2017), && soon i’m able to not just wear, but be, the code that i have every day;

so yeah, soon i’ll be one with my code; no, not that Visual Studio Code, but every code with i create, work, && love; need some help, summon a new instance of me && i’ll help you through wading a field full of bugs[], overflows[] && NullPointerExceptions[];

is this what it feels when hacker culture meets cyberpunk? i don’t know, but this could be a new one;

&& speaking of that digital rain background;

that piece of art was taken from this site, which does not specify whether the image is appropriate for commercial use; maybe the site took this thing from Pinterest or DeviantArt, but again i’m unsure about that;

since those images don’t seem to be available over Unsplash && some public domain image repos, i’ll currently considering creating a new one myself with a specific shade of green, which could be a great brand identity for the rootheads;

Thanks for reading this article! By the way, we’re also working on finishing these interesting posts. Revisit this site soon or follow us to see them once they’re published!

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  1. Reinhart Previano Koentjoro

    In the recent days I am experiencing a mental breakdown, and good thing that now I’m starting to feel better. But first thing first, I would like to apologize to many of my colleagues working on important projects such as TECHNO 2021, HIMTI KIT, COMPUTERUN 2.0 and others. And also to MAT students and lecturers for not attending the first session of “Wearable Technology” course (MOBI6057).
    I have acknowledged that this has negatively impacted not just me, but others as well. Some TECHNO 2021 participants have been asking if the all-new HIMTI KIT has been available to be downloaded, and at the time of this writing I’m still not yet releasing it due to some technical difficulties. The same thing happens with COMPUTERUN 2.0 which will open their registration on this early October.
    No, it’s not all your fault.
    This breakdown is not just caused by working for these projects, but also by a bunch of other factors.
    First, after trying to apply for the second wave, limited onsite class application to BINUS University, I’ve been deeply hurt by the rejection they gave to me.
    This means that you’ll never, never be able to see me physically again after February 2020. If I’m going to campus, it will be likely me discussing privately on important things such as thesis and so on. After that it’s time to go to somewhere else, or go home.
    Or, when I’m finished my Bachelor degree, it’s time to work again. And that means it would be more challenging for you to meet me again just like the days of the college.
    “Too much coding,” I know right?
    Looking back at my plans for mid-2021, I just realized that yes, I still haven’t stopped coding yet despite switching projects and languages, but I still need to code for other critical projects at least for the next 2 months.
    Not to mention those stress gathered on reading documentations and fixing bugs, which contributes greatly into this breakdown.
    I might be considering to temporarily retire from all of these coding madness which I’ve done tirelessly and endlessly since mid-2019. But again, I still need to finish out those projects and university courses which again, requires me to code.
    My current progress so far…
    There are times that I need to entertain myself for situations like this, like figuring out to make Zoom virtual backgrounds work the other way. Showcasing this hack into this blog and social media, at least, relieves my stress while working on resolving these issues.
    Speaking of HIMTI KIT, I’ve delegated this task to other members of HIMTI BINUS University Web Development Division (Alam Sutera and Kemanggisan campus regions). It’s a good opportunity for them to learn about PHP and databases before I retire, though.
    And finally, for COMPUTERUN 2.0: EXECUTE, I’m working out for a backup plan to make the website and registration mechanism at least ready to be released for the first time. After that, the site will be regularly updated to include changes and new features.
    I’ve done this same trick for the last year’s COMPUTERUN 2020: INSIGHT website, though. So been there, done that 🙂
    By the way, don’t forget to follow COMPUTERUN’s official social media accounts since there is a surprise for you:

    COMPUTERUN 2.0 will be our first event to be held internationally. Yes, INTERNATIONALLY!

    Future Plans
    During the course of October 1-3 I’ll be solely focusing for HIMTI KIT and COMPUTERUN 2.0, while preparing to continue for other projects. I will still be delegating some tasks to others, so I don’t need to work for this entirety. Not to mention my other plans on contributing for Hacktoberfest 2021, but there’s still a plenty of time for that.
    And sure, some of you might want to give me a hug, but currently impossible due to COVID-19 restrictions. I just want to give a teaser for you:

    reinhart.exe is coming. Prepare to run and hug unto me.

    It wouldn’t be scary as you might thought, but, I’ve been working as a tech enthusiast and software engineer this far, to the point that I might be busy when you asked me about things. The solution? Due to technical difficulties in creating a cyborg account, I decided converting myself into a computer software which you can run independently (self-hosted). The first release will be completely amazing, celebrating my 20th birthday, too!
    That’s all for now, and I’ll need to get back to work. So, thanks for understanding!
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  2. Reinhart Previano Koentjoro

    Before, we’ve stated that virtual background problems on require virtual solutions, and we’ve figured it out how to apply virtual background on Zoom in the other way: real backgrounds covered with virtual foregrounds.
    Instead of just either make foreground or background virtual, why not if we make both of them? And starting today, we’ve taken this opportunity to a whole new level by immersing ourselves into virtual reality.
    Hey, I just become virtual. I’m no longer in SVG, but now also in GLF (3D) file. And while I can’t bring the pr0xy-alt1e couple into the world of VRChat yet, I also brought Shiftine who’s able to shapeshift herself into… me?
    Some note on “I/me/my” vs “we/us/our” subject terminologies.
    Okay, when I said I, that means me, Reinhart as a human person. However, since I’ve created many robots who loves to assist me, we decided to join a clan which now becomes the maintainers of this website, https://reinhart1010.id, as well as our proud username, @reinhart1010.
    Found the perfect VRChat avatar. Even without a camera.
    What’s the first VRChat avatar which I want to have at first? A cat? A robot? An anime character? or the infamous, overpowered Ugandan Knuckles?
    If you said an avatar of me, you’re correct. And good thing that some websites and services like Ready Player Me offers avatar creation and customizations for VRChat. And that means I don’t need to mess with Blender and Unity figuring out how to make a 3D version if me at first. But sure, someday I’ll make myself blue-shelled as what I look here.
    Ah, classic me.
    One of the main features of Ready Player Me is that you’re able to create avatars exactly like yourself through selfies. And lo, now I have an avatar that looks exactly like me.
    But there’s a plot twist: I created this without opening my camera or send a picture of me, since I have to test whether this feature work without the need to send any pictures into the service.
    Of course, I’m also interested to create a female character which matches the spirit of Shiftine or Alterine (aka. alt1e) and we noticed three main things:
    Some outfits are only available for male avatars, and that means it’s quite difficult to match our appearances.Female avatars tend to be shorter than male counterparts, since at the time of this writing we’re still unable to change the size of the avatars(for alt1e) we didn’t have a perfect basketball-esque, or at least, sporty outfit for her. A majority of the outfit choices are t-shirts coupled with jackets, and (as of now) you can’t change the colors or even remix the outfit for the upper and lower parts of the body (like blue t-shirt, cyan jacket, and jeans; just like in Bitmoji)
    So here we are: somewhat “official” Ready Player Me and VRChat avatars for both Reinhart and Shiftine. These are, just like dotfiles, are reproducible among Ready Player Me users so you can have the same look and feel with us.
    And some Ready Player Me legal checks before we’re fine.
    As usual, we’re strict when it comes into reading copyright terms and licenses, especially when this generously-generated 3D characters could be used in somewhat commercial way, such as profitably streaming VR games on Twitch and YouTube. Not to mention their Terms of Use and Privacy Policy regarding the usage of the service.
    We also understand that Copyright and Licensing are different things, and copyright holders may grant different types of licenses for using copyrighted works, from the infamous “All Rights Reserved” to the ones we have in Creative Commons.
    The Terms of Use we’ve reviewed was last amended on July 22, 2021, while the Privacy Policy was last updated on August 2, 2021. Here’s what we know about them:
    Wolf3D (the company behind the service) is based on Estonia, which is part of European Union. This means that they at least know to comply with the EU’s strict electronic data processing regulations (e.g. GDPR) before releasing the service into the general public. Good.All generated avatars © Wolf3D. See Clause 12 (“Intellectual Property”) of their Terms of Use for more details. This is also the same case with other character, avatar, and sticker generators such as Memoji (Apple), “AR Emoji” (Samsung), as well as Bitmoji (Snap Inc.)All generated avatars are permitted even for commercial use, except for:Sublicensing, (See Clause 12.3)Inappropriate, immoral, illegal, abusive, or harmful purposes at the sole discretion of Wolf3D (See Clause 6, examples given include using them for political and adult entertainment purposes)When you decide to stop and terminate your Ready Player Me account, you’re still able to use the already-generated avatars under the terms above (See Clause 16.3)
    There’s one thing that we’re uncertain about the entire Terms of Use, and that’s about license grants on using paid/premium customization assets provided in the future. (See Clause 8) Noting that this feature is currently under development, we’re interested to see how will this be done.
    Next Steps
    And finally, as a software developer who commonly works for building web and mobile apps, I’m quite interested to develop things for the VR and AR space especially when both of them are being taught this Semester 5 of my bachelor college.
    Chances are that we might finally partner with Wolf3D, Ready Player Me, as well as other of their services in the future, so let’s see if I can finally understand how to use Unity and Blender (and hopefully some Godot, too).
    As of now, we’re gonna live in this specific VRChat world, and no, we didn’t choose that home just because of the (in)famous “Welcome Home” signage at Gereja Mawar Sharon (GMS).
    And soon, if my Unity skills are going up, I might want to show you one of my favorite, physical set of places in a new world on VRChat. That would be amazing.
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