August 17th, 2007
This very cool video by Dr. Ariel Shamir shows off his presentation on content-aware image sizing that was presented at SIGGRAPH this year.
It demonstrates a software application that resizes images in such a way that the content of the image is preserved intelligently. The video describes it better than I can, but the basic idea is that if you want to stretch out an image, it will keep the key elements of the photo in sensible places while filling in less important areas. The same goes for shrinking an image - it will eliminate the less important features of an image and leave the main subject areas intact and in the same relative location as they previously appeared in the image.
Just take my word for it and watch the video. It’s cool.
I would love to see some high-resolution before-and-after pictures to see what kind of quality this software is capable of producing. If the quality is good, it could be a genuinely useful tool (with some huge ethical implications for photojournalists!).
I’m also curious about the future plans for the software. It looks like it is currently a standalone application, but I expect Dr. Shamir could make some serious cash if he licensed this program to Adobe for an inclusion into Photoshop.
Update: Thanks to the user migawka below who has made the video available on youtube.
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June 10th, 2007
The generally accepted way of linking information together on the Internet is by means of text-based information. Images have typically been related to each other by means of the text-based data attached to them in the form of keywords, descriptions, tags and so on.
But what if the images floating around on the web could be linked together by means of the content of the photo itself? What if your shot of the Notre Dame Cathedral could be analyzed and connected with everyone else’s shots of the landmark? And their shots could be connected to the detail shots shots everyone has taken so that you could zoom in to each detailed carving in a three dimensional representation of the Cathedral?
The answer just may be Photosynth, a project being developed by Blaise Aguera y Arcas at Microsoft. The video of the Photosynth demo is jaw dropping. The assembly of a virtual space based on flickr photos of Notre Dame is rather incredible and inspiring stuff.
May 11th, 2007
Upping the ante in the game of world’s largest photo, Gerard Maynard, together with software developer Kolor has created this 13-gigpixel panoramic photo of Harlem.
The panorama is composed of 2045 individual photographs taken with a Nikon D2X and a 300mm lens. The resulting image is 279,689 by 46,901 pixels. At 300 dpi, that will make the image over 77-feet wide which could be handy if they wanted to decorate the side of a blimp.
June 28th, 2006
Creativebits has a brief look at PhotoShop 1.0 that will undoubtedly spawn some sighs of relief that the product has come so far from its early days. Though, one screenshot does reveal that even in 1990, PhotoShop had support for 32-bit colour!
If you’re a Mac user and Software update hasn’t told you so yet, OS X version 10.4.7 is available.
Microsoft has announced the acquisition of iView media whose Media Pro software is an invaluable tool for photographers seeking to organize large collections of images. The iView line will continue develop under Microsoft and will likely serve as part of a larger Microsoft foray into digital imaging.
Lastly, DIY Photography, in this article, shares some musings on the art of photography.
June 22nd, 2006
In an effort to deter photography of sensitive subjects and copyrighted material, researchers at Georgia tech have begun the development of a device that will cripple the use of digital video and still cameras. The system works by scanning the area using infrared beams for the reflection produced by digital camera sensors then beaming light into the camera to blind it. The light is out of the visible spectrum and also said to be harmless to human beings.
Notably, however, this system is incapable of disabling DSLR cameras. The mirror on DSLRs blocks the scan from seeing the sensor, so the more professional cameras are safe from this device.
In addition to its limitations with DLSRs, the system seems as though it would be easy to circumvent. A one-way mirror, an infrared filter or perhaps even a polarizing filter would conceivably block the sensor from being detected.
One of the main purposes of the camera blocker is to help prevent movie piracy by disabling video cameras in movie theatres. It has a host of other potential applications such as defending high-security areas and keeping trades secrets safe at trade shows.
My hope is that this does not become an over-used or abused technology. Would the world have ever known about Abu Ghraib had such devices been installed there? And if it had been mounted to the police car of the officers who beat Rodney King?
If this technology comes to fruition, I can only hope its use is strictly regulated.
June 20th, 2006
Though consumers can’t expect to see this kind of resolution in their cameras anytime soon, the new 111 megapixel sensor developed by DALSA Semiconductor lets the imagination run wild for photo enthusiasts. It’s the first digital photo sensor to break the 100 million pixel barrier and will ultimately be used for mapping the motions and locations of celestial objects.
The sensor is approximately four inches by four inches, so no amount of cramming will get it into today’s DSLRs. Besides, the power of the computer you would need to process the images is well beyond most people’s means. I think my powerbook might choke to death if I tried to manipulate a 10,560 x 10,560 pixel image in PhotoShop.
June 15th, 2006
Six photographers in California are poised to set two new world records: the world’s largest photograph and the world’s largest camera. Constructed using an air hangar, this gargantuan pinhole camera will be used to produce a panoramic image of the landscape on the outside of the hangar.
The photographers are using a nearly 31-by-111 foot piece of white fabric covered in 20 gallons of light-sensitive emulsion as the “negative.”
I’m genuinely curious to see how the photo will look when completed. It will take ten days for the exposure to be completed, so the results will surely be unique for more than just their size.
June 15th, 2006
To follow up on the previous post, computers.net has one of the many early reviews of Google’s Picasa Web Albums that are bound to pop up in the coming days. Check out their review complete with screenshots here.
And because I forgot to mention it before, Mac users have a little less to get excited about with Google’s recent news - the Picasa application is still only available for Windows. Google has stated that a Mac release is an option in the future, but they have not given any firm release dates.
June 12th, 2006
One of the many reasons I love the Japanese is for their sometimes incomparable sense of invention. The Flash Helmet is a fine example of this creative spirit. Too bad it’s so ridiculous.
This portable lighting system is designed to produce a soft light as it’s bounced from an umbrella. A head-mounted umbrella. Yes, a flash unit and umbrella are mounted to a helmet, synced to the camera and used to produce a rather nice light. But unless you’re used to taking pictures while wearing a clown suit, the absurd appearance of this device might not be for you.
June 11th, 2006
The International Herald Tribune has an optimistic article at the future of digital cameras. They take a look at the rapid development that has occurred during the rise of the digital camera and examine what’s possible if a similar rate of development continues.
I agree with the article that much development is yet to come with digital camera technology, but perhaps the optimism in the piece might be a little too enthusiastic. While I do believe that megapixels will continue to multiply inside cameras, I suspect sensor developers will shift their focus away from higher megapixel numbers. After all, the smaller photo sites required for additional pixels have the tendency to reduce image quality. Though I do believe we will continue to see the numbers rise, I just wouldn’t put too much faith in them rises as quickly as the author suggests.
Instead, I believe camera manufacturers will shift more of their focus to improving the quality of the images. The article does discuss this as well, but I do think this is where the immediate future in camera development lies. Professional photographers now seem relatively content with the size of their images - they now strive for ever greater quality. Higher dynamic range and better high ISO performance are a couple of the refinements that are at the top of photographers’ wish lists.
As for me, I think one of the refinements they should work on is cutting the prices of this new technology. I want to play with these fun toys too!
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