Point-and-Shoot with GPS and Compass

Want a really great point and shoot with GPS and compass...  MidNight suggests one of SONY's HX models as a point-and-shoot camera.  Each has an 18Mp sensor, GPS, and a compass.  All also have the ability to record video as well.  Main difference is an extra digital zoom and WiFi.  Generally lenses are quite good.  Try to avoid the use of software zoom – use only optical zoom.

B&H Sony CyberShor DSc-HX Point and shoot  COMPARISON

 

B&H Comparison – My suggestion for value and feature would be the DSC-HX20V/B – for an extra $40 the HX30V offers digital zoom and WiFi. All have panograph automations... very cool

 

The combination of compass and GPS is a good choice and my experience with these series is they are quite good.  You will need to add memory card.  I suggest considering a 32GB - Type 6 or better because these cameras can also record 1080p60 full motion video.

  

The PHODARs - PhotoSynth, Pix4D - Some very cool ideas...

I really like Microsoft's Photosynth product. I have been experimenting with it from the first time I was introduced to at an 4thsight.

From a set of images made in over the course of minutes and submission to a tool like Microsoft's Photosynth images are systematically organized into sets that organize through their 3D relatonships to each other.  Image sets can be purposely taken or they can be disassociated in time, camera, and photographer.  What is especially exciting is that the process also creates a point cloud that can offer quite magical 3D point clouds that can spun and inspected.  And if there are geotagged images in these raw image sets, the entire point-cloud might become geotagged as well as  images that may not have such image geoposition? (There was another form of Photosynth, GeoSynth, that was a bit too powerful for private sector use and resides within a workstation in special places).

The Photosynth above was created from taking 88 images/clips of Uluru (Ayres Rock, Australia) from Google Earth. As you will see all 88 images become properly orientated to the object and each other.   In creating this 3D indexing, a number of camera position orientations are discovered for each image and added to their individual metadata sets. These qualities are valuable to spatial media explorations and include: Image ID, Camera position X, Y, and Z, Camera rotation about X,Y, and Z axis, Image aspect ratio, ans Focal length (relative to the size of the CCD)

The example in the YouTube video was created from grabbing screen from a Gooogle Earth visit to Uluru or Ayres Rock in Australia.  What I was interested  in is the 3D point cloud that can be generated from a set of images... a poor-mans LIDAR solution.  I believe this sort of PHODAR (Photo Light Detections and Ranging) is going to be a significant utility that may render LIDAR solutions as simply too-expensive and too-low resolution. 

The Photosysth Point-Cloud to DEM Tutorial

SynthExport can export this data as a CSV as well as the point cloud. SynthExport allows you to extract the point cloud as well as camera parameter data of a synth on Photosynth. Point clouds are downloaded automatically and converted to formats that are compatible with most 3D graphics applications. Camera information such as position, focal length and lens distortion of each image is stored as a CSV file.   MeshLab and others can load these sets of files and create more dense rendering of the Photosynth magic-data.  And yet another solution VisualSFM that pulls these generalized tools together with a GUI interface.  

The systematization of DEM surfaces from imagery sets  is a hot topic. PhotoModeler is a commercial product that costs between $1,200 to $2,600 The team at 2D3 has something cooking as does Pix4D.  The 2D3 Sensing team is both US and England based and recently Englsnd's DSTL funded 2d3 Sensing to further refine a real-time 3D scene generator to provide rich scene understanding from stereo imagery.  Pix4D is another design supported by Swiss defense interests and is designed to 3D-ize aerial imagery taken from popular, small, and limited range UAVs.  Pix4D is priced on the number of images submitted and the desired resolution of the final 3D model.

One piece of this quest was to discover if these tools might also support and refine the generalized DEM that Google Earth rely on.  What I was able to find is that 3D models generated from these several tools can be converted into a SketchUp form.  SketchUp was once a Google product that was sold to Trimble.  The Trimble version of SketchUp remains compaible to Google Earth; it can absorb Google Earth to its rendings or be sent into Google Earth for that display rendering. Trimble maintains a free version as well as a $495 SketchUp Pro price.

There are several interesting aspects of use of Photosynth derived point clouds is that even though the point cloud that is derived from "your" photos, it is copyrighted / licensed from Micorsoft and can not apparently be used in a commercial manner?  But interesting there may a way around this as the Photosynth Silverlight viewer has a JavaScript API which allows whatever program the synth is embedded in to continually check what the camera angle inside the synth is, so you could match Google Earth's viewpoint to match.

Getting the Best Point Clouds Getting the Best Point Clouds.  There has been debate on the topic.  If you inspect the three comparisons of method - normal (hand-held), Leveled, and All-sorts I sort of fall on the side of Intentionally Crooked.

Stones:
Normal: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=3034f0ff-0084-45f6-9688-3bc82bf2b958
Leveled: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=fed01de7-4ad9-432b-8977-ab60f93c521c
Intentionally Crooked: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=46664b9b-13e6-4f41-a5dc-0256316d7d42

There is an excellent users form that can be found at - http://photosynth.net/forum.aspx. Many of these tools noted above were found from Microsoft by one of the scientists there...

Nathanael Lawrence over 2 years agoThere are actually easier ways to export Photosynth point clouds now.

Almost a year ago, Photosynth user, Christoph Hausner, gave us his SynthExport app.
Kean Walmsley from Autodesk then wrote an import plugin for AutoCAD 2011 called BrowsePhotosynth.

Henri Astre has given us his PhotosynthToolkit, which not only downloads the Photosynth point cloud, but will also download small versions of the photos and camera positions in a synth to use in conjunction with Yasutaka Furukawa's PMVS2 for dense reconstruction of any synth.

Josh Harle has provided a tutorial on how to use PhotosynthToolkit.

If you'd like to use the full resolution photos from a synth (fair warning: you're going to need a heap of RAM to use them in PMVS2 if you have very many), use Henri'sPhotosynthTileDownloader to save them.

Recently, Josh Harle has modified Christoph's SynthExport to export the camera positions to use your photos with 3D Studio Max. His fork of SynthExport is named CameraExport. His results are very similar to the work that Greg Downing from xRez studios demonstrated near the end of November.

Field Pulse and Oxisensors

Masimo iSpO2 hands-on: track your pulse and blood oxygen with your iPhone

from Engadget by Terrence O'Brien

Pulse Oximeters are an essential hospital tool and serious athletes rely on them to track the efficiency with which they pump oxygen into their blood stream. Masimo's new iSpO2 puts these rather important health metrics within reach of the consumer by tying the sensor to your favorite iOS device through an app. The device, available now for $249 through Amazon, feeds your blood oxygen level, pulse rate and perfusion index (the rate of blood flow to your finger) to an easy-to-read app. In addition to just large raw numbers, the app also offers a history-tracking graph, along with a confidence rating for the reading -- so you know when the data coming in and out is reliable. The device itself is primarily light soft-touch plastic and rubber, with a slightly glossier clip that goes over your finger. At the opposite end of the device is the standard 30-pin connector for plugging into your old-school iOS devices. Though, frequent upgraders will be happy to hear that Lightning adapters work perfectly fine with the iSpO2.

Primarily the monitor is aimed at athletes and aviators who tend to find themselves in unpressurized aircraft. Beyond that, there could be general health applications for those with chronic circulation issues or other blood-related health problems. The sensor even works when under stress from constant movement -- an important feature since Masimo expects runners and hikers are expected actually wear the device when active. For a bit more, check out the gallery below and the video after the break.

Fisheye Corrections

Got fisheye? proDAD Debuts Defishr

from (title unknown) by Paul Worthington

Slight curvature can be overlooked in a still image — but it can make me nauseous in a moving video. Thankfully digital video effects developer proDAD has come out with the Defishr — an automatic video fisheye corrector application for Windows.

The $79 software removes the warp and perspective distortion caused by very wide angle camera lenses. Simply drag a video clip into the Defishr app, select the camera model that recorded the video from a drop-down list, and the fisheye distortion is instantly corrected, the company says. If your camera & lens combination is not in the list of camera profiles, the calibrator tool, can create a custom camera profile.

Defishr also includes manual lens correction tools to fine-tune the lens angle and zoom, or to rotate the video and correct minor camera placement problems.

Smartphone IR

Smartphone Thermal Imaging Attachment Becomes a Reality

• DL Cade · Dec 29, 2012

 

A few months ago, we told you about a neat, open-source attachment created by modder Andy Rawson that could instantly turn your smartphone into a thermal imaging camera. At the time, Rawson was intending to sell the production models for $150 and otherwise open source the project for the DIYers out there. Well, add about $25 to the price tag and a ridiculously successful Kickstarter campaign and you’ve got the IR-Blue.

As with the original version, the IR-Blue uses a 64 zone non-contact InfraRed sensor array to sense the temperature of whatever you’re pointing your phone at. Unlike the original, this version did away with the dock connection in favor of Bluetooth.

Both the iPhone and Android apps will be a free download, and then you’ve got a few options. You can pledge $12 and get a plain, printed IR-Blue circuit board — hardcore DIYers only. You can pledge $145 and get all of the parts you’ll need to build your own — beginner and intermediate DIYers who own a soldering iron are welcome. Or you can pledge $175 and get a fully put together and tested IR-Blue,

Here’s what the system looks like for iPhone and Android:

There’s no need to worry about the possibility that the IR-Blue won’t come to fruition — Rawson’s campaign has already hit $105K, more than quintupling his original $20K goal — but if he hits $150K in the next 15 days, the IR-Blue will come equipped with dual-mode Bluetooth 2.0 and 4.0 built right in.

To add your pledge to the pot or turn your smartphone into a thermal camera for cheap (the suggested retail price is $195), head over to Kickstarter and check out the IR-Blue for yourself.

Magic Button

locate your goods with a smartphone (hands-on video)
By Zach Honig posted Jan 2nd, 2013 at 4:20 PM

We've all misplaced keys, gadgets and occasionally even children.
Well, no more. StickNFind is a nifty, inexpensive solution for tagging
and locating electronics, keys and pets. For roughly $25 a pop
(estimated retail), you get a small adhesive disk that can be affixed
to any flat surface or attached to a keychain. Inside, there's a
replaceable CR2016 watch battery that's said to last more than a
year, a Bluetooth module and antenna, an LED-lit ring and a
iezoelectric speaker. A free Android or iOS app then lets you hone
in on any stickers within a roughly 100-foot (line of sight) range.
The current version can only display distance, but an update, set to
hit before StickNFind ships, will add direction, leading you directly
o your target. You can also activate a (fairly faint) beeper, and an
LED ring around the perimeter of the sticker, further helping you to
ind the device, even in a dark room. The app will offer several other
eatures, including a "Virtual Leash" that alerts you when the sticker
goes out of range -- a "Reverse Virtual Leash" will make the device
(perhaps attached to your keys) beep, letting you know you've left
your smartphone behind.

The product designers will also be offering an SDK, so developerscan 

even create their own apps for StickNFind. For example, you could 

write an app that uses the stickers as triggers -- apparently one museum 

plans to affix the device to art, so as visitors approach, a text notification 

will pop up describing the piece. Another company is considering using 

stickers at an upcoming conference, and with Bluetooth transmitters 

laced around a venue, they can track the precise location of attendee 

badges (and the individuals wearing them), and even send "pages" by 

riggering the beeper and light. During our hands-on, StickNFind worked 

quite well, though as we mentioned, the current alpha version of the 

app only displays distance, not direction. The device is currently 

available for "pre-order" on Indiegogo, with an estimated March s

hip date. You can snag a sneak peek of it in action though, in our h

ands-on video after the break.

StickNFind Bluetooth Location Stickers hands-on

See all photos

Dash Details

VCIP 2012

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Christopher Mueller

Title: A PROXY EFFECT ANALYIS AND FAIR ADATPATION ALGORITHM FOR MULTIPLE COMPETING DYNAMIC ADAPTIVE STREAMING OVER HTTP CLIENTS

Authors: Christopher Mueller, Stefan Lederer and Christian Timmerer

Abstract: Multimedia streaming technologies based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) are very popular and used by many content providers such as Netflix, Hulu, and Vudu. Recently, ISO/IEC MPEG has ratified Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) which extends the traditional HTTP streaming with an adaptive component addressing the issue of varying bandwidth conditions that users are facing in networks based on the Internet Protocol (IP). Additionally, industry has already deployed several solutions based on such an approach which simplifies large scale deployment because the whole streaming logic is located at the client. However, these features may introduce drawbacks when multiple clients compete for a network bottleneck due to the fact that the clients are not aware of the network infrastructure such as proxies or other clients. This paper identifies these negative effects and the evaluation thereof using MPEG-DASH and Microsoft Smooth Streaming. Furthermore, we propose a novel adaptation algorithm introducing the concept of fairness regarding a cluster of clients. In anticipation of the results we can conclude that we achieve more efficient bottleneck bandwidth utilization and less quality switches.

Conference: VCIP2012, San Diego, CA, USA, Nov 27-30, 2012
http://www-itec.uni-klu.ac.at/dash/