Latest news with #digitalstorytelling
Geeky Gadgets
2 days ago
- Business
- Geeky Gadgets
Create Stunning Presentations, Websites & Social Media Posts with Gamma AI Design
What if creating stunning presentations, engaging websites, and scroll-stopping social media content didn't require hours of painstaking design work? Imagine a tool that could take your ideas and transform them into polished, professional visuals in minutes. Enter Gamma, an AI-powered design platform that's reshaping how content creators, professionals, and businesses approach digital storytelling. By breaking free from the rigid confines of traditional templates, Gamma combines AI-driven creativity with user-friendly customization, empowering you to focus on what matters most: your message. Whether you're a seasoned designer or a complete beginner, Gamma promises to make content creation not just easier, but smarter. Kevin Stratvert explain how Gamma's innovative features—like AI-guided content generation, seamless customization, and real-time collaboration—are redefining the creative process. You'll discover how this platform enables you to craft cohesive designs that reflect your unique vision while maintaining professional polish. From automating repetitive tasks to offering advanced tools for personalization, Gamma is more than just a design tool; it's a partner in creativity. So, how does it all come together? Let's unpack the possibilities and see how Gamma is setting a new standard for modern content creation. AI-Powered Content Creation Streamlined and Intuitive Content Generation Gamma simplifies the process of content creation, making it both accessible and efficient. After signing up for a free account, you gain access to the 'Create' screen, where you can begin building your project with ease. The platform supports multiple input methods, including pasting text, importing files or URLs, and using AI-powered prompts to generate tailored outputs. Whether you're working on a presentation, webpage, document, or social media post, Gamma allows you to specify the number of slides or cards and provide detailed descriptions to ensure the results align with your vision. This capability is particularly beneficial for professionals who need high-quality drafts quickly without sacrificing customization. By automating repetitive tasks, Gamma allows you to focus on refining your message and achieving your creative goals. Extensive Customization for Personalized Results Gamma offers a comprehensive set of customization tools that give you full control over your projects. You can edit text, rearrange slides or cards, and adjust themes, text density, and visual styles to suit your specific preferences. The platform also supports seamless integration of AI-generated visuals or allows you to upload your own images, making sure a personalized touch for every project. Additionally, Gamma's AI image editing features enable you to modify backgrounds, add text overlays, and make stylistic adjustments. These tools ensure that your visuals align perfectly with your brand or message, resulting in a polished and cohesive final product. Whether you're creating a corporate presentation or a social media campaign, Gamma's customization options empower you to deliver content that stands out. How to Use Gamma AI Design Tool Watch this video on YouTube. Advance your skills in AI design tool by reading more of our detailed content. Unified Themes and Professional Visual Styles Consistency in design is crucial for creating impactful content, and Gamma excels in maintaining a unified aesthetic across projects. The platform offers a wide range of themes and visual styles that can be tailored to match your brand identity. You can adjust the mood, color palette, and image styles to create a cohesive look that resonates with your audience. Gamma's AI can even match visuals to your brand colors, making sure a professional and personalized appearance. This feature is especially valuable for businesses and individuals aiming to establish a strong visual identity across multiple platforms. By reinforcing brand recognition and professionalism, Gamma helps you create content that leaves a lasting impression. Advanced Features for Enhanced Creativity and Functionality Gamma goes beyond basic design tools by offering advanced features that enhance both creativity and functionality. You can add new slides or cards with AI assistance, selecting layouts tailored to specific purposes such as team introductions, data visualizations, or product showcases. For users who prefer a hands-on approach, Gamma supports manual customization, allowing you to insert elements like text, tables, images, charts, and buttons. These features make Gamma a versatile tool for creating content that is not only visually engaging but also highly functional. Whether you're designing a detailed report or an interactive webpage, Gamma equips you with the tools needed to bring your ideas to life. Effortless Collaboration and Sharing Collaboration is a key aspect of modern content creation, and Gamma simplifies this process with its sharing and editing tools. You can share projects via links, invite collaborators to edit in real time, or export your work in formats such as PDF, PowerPoint, or Google Slides. For web-based projects, Gamma allows you to embed presentations directly into websites, making sure easy access for your audience. The platform also includes analytics tracking, allowing you to monitor engagement and refine your content based on audience interaction. This data-driven approach helps you optimize your projects for maximum impact, making Gamma an invaluable tool for teams and individuals alike. Organized Workspace for Efficient Project Management Gamma's workspace management tools are designed to keep your projects organized and easily accessible. You can sort and filter files, making it simple to locate specific projects or revisit previous work. Whether you're starting from scratch or building on existing content, Gamma's workspace ensures a streamlined workflow that saves time and reduces complexity. This feature is particularly beneficial for teams managing multiple projects simultaneously, as it helps maintain structure and efficiency across all tasks. By providing a clear and organized workspace, Gamma enables you to focus on what matters most—creating impactful content. Empowering Modern Content Creators Gamma is more than just a design tool; it is a comprehensive platform that enables users to create professional-quality content across presentations, websites, and social media. By combining AI-driven efficiency with extensive customization options, Gamma simplifies the design process while maintaining creative flexibility. From generating content and fine-tuning themes to collaborating with others and analyzing audience engagement, Gamma equips you with the tools needed to produce polished, impactful results. Whether you're a professional aiming to streamline your workflow or a creative seeking innovative solutions, Gamma offers a powerful and versatile approach to modern content creation. Media Credit: Kevin Stratvert Filed Under: AI, Design News, Guides Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
For one filmmaker, telling Pakistan's untold stories has become a path to healing
ISLAMABAD: Mobile phones, data cables and memory cards sprawl across the editing table in Athar Abbas's modest Islamabad apartment. It's an organized chaos the 38-year-old filmmaker fully embraces — a far cry from the mental turmoil that once engulfed him. Abbas, a former commercial producer, now documents the lives of ordinary Pakistanis in short, emotionally charged videos he publishes on social media. His mini-documentaries — raw, personal and deliberately unpolished — have attracted tens of thousands of followers across platforms, racking up over a million views in the past year. But Abbas's foray into digital storytelling wasn't born of ambition. It was a survival tactic. He began filming after quitting his job at a construction company, where a senior colleague dismissed his work as 'pathetic.' The insult gnawed at his confidence and spiraled into a depressive episode. Eventually, Abbas turned to the one outlet that had always brought him calm — the camera. 'I picked up my camera and started making stories,' Abbas told Arab News. 'And unintentionally, I realized that maybe for an artist, there's no therapy greater than his art.' Pakistan, a country of over 240 million people, faces a chronic shortage of mental health services. According to the World Health Organization, more than 24 million people in Pakistan are in need of psychiatric support. Yet the country has only around 500 trained psychologists and 400 psychiatrists, roughly one mental health professional for every 260,000 people. The stigma around mental illness remains deeply entrenched, especially for men. Talking about emotional vulnerability is often seen as weakness, a perception Abbas says is reinforced in professional environments. 'He feels that his manly personality will be affected,' he said, referring to why many Pakistani men hesitated to express emotions, especially those that communicated perceived weakness. 'So he doesn't even share that he has a problem with something.' In Pakistan's corporate sector, long working hours, harsh managerial practices and lack of mental health policies have contributed to high stress levels. A 2024 review by the Pakistan Society of Human Resource Management found that most companies lacked formal emotional wellness programs. Creative professionals, Abbas said, often bore the brunt of toxic leadership. 'If you talk to anyone in the creative field, they will tell you they are distressed because of senior management's behavior,' he said. 'Unfortunately, it greatly affects mental health.' A separate 2025 study in the Pakistan Social Sciences Review noted that while some younger professionals are more aware of mental health issues, institutional support remains weak, leaving them vulnerable to burnout and depression. 'UNTOLD PAKISTAN' For Abbas, the path to stability came through storytelling. He launched a series titled Untold Pakistan, filming everything from a street vendor's hustle to a single mother's struggle for dignity. In one video, a man named Kamran Ali cycles from Germany to Layyah, Punjab, only to learn of his mother's death upon arrival. 'Storytelling became a way to survive,' Abbas said. His films resist sensationalism. There are no stunts or celebrity cameos. Instead, they dwell in moments often overlooked: fatigue, memory, longing, resilience. The comment sections on his pages are peppered with viewers opening up about their own traumas, some for the first time. Abbas recalls a message from a young man in Lahore who said one of the videos gave him the courage to speak to his father about something he'd been avoiding for a long time. 'That one message made all the late nights worth it,' Abbas said. After 15 years of directing ads, music videos and corporate content, Abbas has no interest in going back. His priorities have shifted. 'I didn't set out to become an influencer,' he said. 'I just needed to breathe.'
Tahawul Tech
18-07-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
Beyond Pixels: How next-gen LED displays are powering immersive brand experiences
Dubai — In a region where innovation is not just encouraged but expected, immersive digital experiences are fast becoming the new language of brand engagement. Across the Middle East, from the glittering retail boulevards of Riyadh to the ultramodern hospitality destinations of Dubai, next-generation LED technology is transforming spaces into dynamic storytelling platforms. This momentum reflects the broader aspirations of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and the UAE's Smart City strategy, which place customer experience, innovation, and measurable impact at the core of national progress. Fine-pitch LED displays are at the heart of this transformation, enabling a shift from static signage to full-sensory digital storytelling. These high-resolution, dynamic surfaces are not only capturing attention, but they are also retaining it. In retail, hospitality, and corporate spaces, they're helping brands move beyond one-way communication to create immersive environments that respond to visitor behavior, mood, and motion. According to the International Market Analysis Research and Consulting (IMARC) Group, the global digital signage market is expected to reach $45.5 billion by 2032i, with the Middle East seeing double-digit growth driven by smart infrastructure investments and a booming retail sector. This evolution is not just about technology; it's about human connection. In a world where consumers are inundated with content, creating physical spaces that evoke emotion, surprise, and delight can make all the difference. Research from PwC shows that 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience, and 65% find in-store digital engagement to be a key differentiator. Whether it's a hotel lobby that adapts visually to the time of day or a flagship store that immerses visitors in interactive brand stories, LED displays are becoming central to how experiences are designed and remembered. In this landscape, Unilumin's latest innovation, MIP-Visualperfect, represents a pivotal leap forward. Engineered for the demands of Gulf climates, MIP-Visualperfect combines the modular flexibility of traditional SMD technology with the high contrast and visual consistency of COB while avoiding the drawbacks of both. It delivers superior color consistency, flatness, and resilience across indoor and outdoor environments, offering businesses a display solution that is not only visually striking but also commercially scalable. It is more than a screen; it is a medium for real-time storytelling, analytics, and adaptability. As the 'metasight' concept gains traction in the region, the role of digital surfaces is expanding. Walls, ceilings and windows are no longer passive; they're part of the narrative. Unilumin's displays are enabling this shift by providing the visual infrastructure for environments that can sense, engage and evolve. Looking ahead, as AI, spatial computing, and digital twins become part of the built environment, LED display systems will act as interactive bridges between digital intent and physical reality, turning public spaces into intelligent, responsive experiences. Retail in the Middle East isn't just a transaction; it's a destination experience. As competition intensifies and consumer expectations evolve, immersive visual environments powered by advanced LED are turning storefronts into storytellers. MIP-Visualperfect allows retailers to not only capture attention but to sustain engagement measurably and memorably. 'The Middle East is undergoing a visual revolution not just in what people see, but in how spaces perform. The MIP-Visualperfect doesn't just meet today's immersive expectations, it anticipates tomorrow's.' As this next chapter of digital infrastructure unfolds, the opportunity for brands and businesses is clear. In a market defined by innovation and high consumer expectations, the spaces we create must be as intelligent and expressive as the people who move through them. Because in the end, it's not just about being seen, it's about being felt, remembered, and chosen. This opinion piece is authored by Zac Liang, General Manager – Gulf Area, Unilumin Group.
Geeky Gadgets
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geeky Gadgets
Incoming Midjourney Video Updates : Native HD and Possible New Features Explored
What if creating high-definition, professional-grade videos was as seamless as generating an image? With Midjourney's latest Native HD Video Update, that vision is becoming a reality. This new advancement is poised to transform how creators approach video production, offering tools that promise smoother motion, sharper resolution, and unprecedented control. Imagine crafting a visually stunning narrative with seamless transitions, or upscaling your content to enterprise-level quality—all within a single platform. These updates aren't just iterative improvements; they're a bold leap forward in the realm of AI-driven creativity, setting new benchmarks for what's possible in digital storytelling. Future Tech Pilot takes you through the exciting features that make this update a fantastic option, from Native HD image-to-video capabilities to innovative tools like looping animations and ambient sound modeling. Whether you're a filmmaker, marketer, or hobbyist, these enhancements aim to empower your creative process, offering both precision and flexibility. But what challenges lie in delivering such innovative functionality? And how might these tools reshape workflows for both individuals and enterprises? As we explore the details, consider how these advancements could redefine the way you tell stories, one frame at a time. Midjourney Creative Updates Video Model Features: Smoother Motion and Enhanced Control Midjourney is advancing its video generation tools to offer you greater control and flexibility in your creative process. The platform is working on key features designed to elevate the quality of motion and storytelling: Start and End Frame Functionality: This feature will enable you to create seamless transitions between frames, making sure smoother and more cohesive narratives in your videos. This feature will enable you to create seamless transitions between frames, making sure smoother and more cohesive narratives in your videos. Looping Capabilities: A potential addition that could allow for continuous playback of animations or repetitive sequences, making it ideal for presentations, social media content, or creative loops. These updates are designed to improve the technical precision of your videos while maintaining their visual appeal, giving you the tools to craft more engaging and professional content. Upscaling and Native HD: Elevating Visual Resolution Midjourney is prioritizing advancements in resolution with two powerful tools currently in development: Upscaler: A versatile tool aimed at enhancing the clarity and detail of your images and videos, making sure sharper visuals for any project. A versatile tool aimed at enhancing the clarity and detail of your images and videos, making sure sharper visuals for any project. Native HD Image-to-Video: A high-resolution feature tailored for professional video creation, offering enterprise-grade quality for demanding projects. While the upscaler has experienced delays due to technical challenges, it is expected to launch within the next month. The Native HD tool, however, may be reserved for higher-tier subscription plans due to its computational intensity. These tools will empower you to produce visuals with exceptional detail and clarity, whether for personal use or professional applications. Native HD Midjourney Video Update Watch this video on YouTube. Here are more detailed guides and articles that you may find helpful on AI video generation. Model Training and Real-Time Generation: Accelerating Creative Outputs Midjourney's commitment to innovation is evident in its ongoing efforts to improve its models. The recent 7.1 training run focused on enhancing coherence and anatomy, though it was ultimately rejected due to shortcomings in texture and style. This decision highlights the platform's dedication to maintaining high standards in its offerings. Additionally, Midjourney is exploring faster image generation modes, with the potential for real-time outputs. This development could significantly accelerate your workflow, allowing quicker iterations and immediate feedback, which are crucial for time-sensitive projects or rapid prototyping. Enterprise API: Seamless Integration for Professional Use For businesses and enterprise users, Midjourney is considering the introduction of an API tailored to professional needs. This API could enable seamless integration of Midjourney's capabilities into larger workflows, benefiting industries such as: Marketing: Streamline the creation of high-quality visuals for campaigns. Streamline the creation of high-quality visuals for campaigns. Design: Enhance creative processes with advanced image and video generation tools. Enhance creative processes with advanced image and video generation tools. Entertainment: Develop visually stunning content for films, games, and media projects. The API is expected to provide scalable solutions, allowing you to integrate Midjourney's tools into broader organizational processes efficiently and effectively. Expanding Creative Horizons: Innovative Features in Development Midjourney is actively working on a range of new features designed to expand your creative possibilities and enhance your projects: Mood Board Update: Set to launch within a week, this tool will help you organize and visualize your ideas, making it easier to plan and execute your creative vision. Set to launch within a week, this tool will help you organize and visualize your ideas, making it easier to plan and execute your creative vision. Style Explorer: Currently in its early stages, this feature will allow you to experiment with various aesthetics, adding depth and variety to your creative process. Currently in its early stages, this feature will allow you to experiment with various aesthetics, adding depth and variety to your creative process. Ambient Sound Modeling: Focused on enhancing sensory experiences, this audio feature will provide effects rather than speech, complementing your visual projects with immersive soundscapes. Focused on enhancing sensory experiences, this audio feature will provide effects rather than speech, complementing your visual projects with immersive soundscapes. Chaos Functionality: A potential addition to the video model, this feature will introduce an element of unpredictability, allowing you to create dynamic and unique content. These tools are designed to inspire creativity and provide you with more options to customize and refine your projects, whether you're working on personal or professional endeavors. Collaborations for Voice Mode Development Midjourney is exploring partnerships to accelerate the development of a voice mode feature. While specific details remain limited, this collaboration could lead to faster implementation of audio capabilities. By combining visuals and sound seamlessly, this feature would provide you with a more comprehensive set of tools for multimedia projects, enhancing the overall impact of your creations. Shaping the Future of Digital Creativity Midjourney's latest updates underscore its commitment to equipping you with innovative tools for video and image generation. By focusing on motion refinement, resolution enhancements, and workflow optimization, the platform is setting new standards for quality and functionality. Whether you're a professional seeking enterprise-grade solutions or a creative individual exploring new possibilities, these advancements are designed to elevate your projects and broaden your creative horizons. As Midjourney continues to innovate, it is poised to redefine the boundaries of digital creativity, offering tools that empower you to bring your vision to life. Media Credit: Future Tech Pilot Filed Under: AI, Top News Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
Mail & Guardian
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mail & Guardian
Digital storytelling can contribute to indigenous knowledge
Digital storytelling, particularly via social media, helps indigenous communities preserve and share their knowledge and histories, fostering decolonisation 'I saw a TikTok the other day …' These are words frequently uttered by young people. It is the fifth most used social media platform in the world and joins YouTube and Instagram as sites where people create skits and structure narratives through images, video audio and text as a form of digital storytelling. Digital storytelling can be defined as the making of a short, narrated film, often by people with little or no professional media production experience. Around the world, storytelling has always been oral, taking place at gatherings or rituals tied to identity and belonging and used to teach values and morals. Such storytelling methods are common in indigenous communities to explain their way of life and how everything came to be, maintaining symbolism, preserving community knowledge and history. While much of this continues to be practised, given the digital world, there are projects afoot to integrate indigenous knowledge with digital storytelling as a form of documenting and preserving it. This is seen as indigenous communities leveraging digital media as a tool in their ongoing struggle for decolonisation. Indigenous digital storytelling One of the many ways indigenous communities seek justice and promote self-determination and self-preservation is through various forms of storytelling, shared within a group of people and their ancestors. Indigenous storytelling nurtures, educates, serves as a form of resistance and communicates the experiences of colonial oppression, dispossession and injustice. Indigenous storytelling positions and exposes multiple truths and meanings to knowledge, foregrounding the indigenous ways of knowing and doing that colonial projects sought to erase. Indigenous storytelling, grounded in history, is about understanding lived experiences and realities from the vantage point of the downtrodden and accentuating the beliefs, values and traditions of diverse indigenous peoples. Because colonialism invades a people's mental universe, displacing what they previously knew, replacing it with what colonialism has brought in, indigenous knowledge promotes knowledge that is relevant within certain cultural contexts and advocates for indigenisation of knowledge as well as the multiplicity of knowledge. Digital storytelling brings together narratives with audio and visual content. Thus, its role in indigenous knowledge is that it offers opportunities for rich, intergenerational exchanges that promote locally relevant insights. Digital storytelling foregrounds specific issues from specific perspectives, promotes critical thinking and fosters knowledge-sharing and capacity-building. Moreover, digital storytelling delves into the narratives of indigenous people by amplifying their voices and experiences in such a way that their realities are not distorted or erased. Decolonial digital journeys: The Popi Show Indigenous realities, experiences and knowledge filtered through Western negations are subject to distortions, fabrications, omissions and erasures. Drawing from Rediscovering is creating digital stories of indigenous peoples where their perspectives, their culture, identity and expressions are the centre of the recordings and visuals that are featured on digital platforms such as social media. The role of social media in the rediscovery and recovery of indigenous knowledge in a digital world is important to disrupting Western distortions of indigenous peoples and remembering indigenous ways of knowing and doing. Young content creators across the African continent are actively remembering the stories of their ancestors by using social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok to disseminate this knowledge for larger audiences to learn and engage. Among them is Popi Sibiya, a South African content creator and traveller, who has a unique way of sharing indigenous stories on TikTok and YouTube. Through her online series Her journey across the African continent and South America centres the spiritual, cultural and historical roots of the indigenous peoples. In her unconventional means of travel — boats, bikes, buses, walking or even asking the locals for lifts — Sibiya listens to indigenous stories and shares indigenous knowledge, captures and partakes in traditions as a form of participatory memory. In one video, Sibiya visits the San people — the indigenous hunter-gather group of Southern Africa — in Botswana. When she spends time with the San, dressed in their traditional attire and participating in their ways of finding subsistence through eating things like berries and wild spinach, consuming water plants, and learning how to light fires, she is bearing witness to cosmologies that survived colonialism, forced removals from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and centuries of silencing. She engages in what can be described as reciprocal documentation — filming trance dances, story-circles and language rituals with the awareness that the stories belong to the people, not to her camera. Some of the many stories Sibiya documents are those of the people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that has been experiencing ongoing violence, human rights violations, mass displacements and colonial traumas. She spent days at camps for internally displaced people in Goma, highlighting the everyday struggles of the people, from children who do not have access to education to those learning in precarious conditions, from farmers who have lost their land to people who have lost their livelihoods. She engages with the local communities, where people speak of war, displacement, mining exploitation and gender-based violence. The Popi Show is actively filming, platforming and archiving local legends, spiritual cosmologies and clan histories which are passed down orally by the elders. This demonstrates that social media can be a site of learning, critical thinking and a safe space for sharing of indigenous stories. Because decolonising knowledge means challenging the dominant narratives that distort those of indigenous communities, the role of social media in documenting, sharing, reclaiming and memorialising indigenous knowledge is the process of rediscovery and recovery neglected by mainstream media and education systems. Kgomotso Komane is a PhD candidate and writes on behalf of at the University of Pretoria.
