 |
|
 |
Smart Video Cams - DARPA's Mind's Eye
An intelligent video camera is next on DARPA's wish list. Their upcoming Mind's Eye conference will spell out what they want:
One of the desired military capabilities resulting from this new form of visual intelligence is a smart camera, with sufficient visual intelligence that it can report on activity in an area of observation. A camera with this kind of visual intelligence could be employed as a payload on a broad range of persistent stare surveillance platforms, from fixed surveillance systems, which would conceivably benefit from abundant computing power, to camera‐equipped perch‐and‐ stare micro air vehicles, which would impose extreme limitations on payload size and available computing power. For the purpose of this research, employment of this capability on man‐ portable unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is assumed. This provides a reasonable yet challenging set of development constraints, along with the potential to transition the technology to an objective ground force capability.
I think that they might as well add the ability to fly around and gather visual information. If they do, their smart video cam sounds a lot like Karen Traviss' bee cams from her 2004 novel City of Pearl:
Eddie realized just how close the wess'har camp must have been to the colony when he saw the first of the fighters...
...He made a mental note to have the bee cam permanently active in the future, just in case he missed another chance of good footage...
He set the bee cam to focus on any movement and enjoyed the day around him. Who would have thought he would end up doing wildlife documentaries?
While DARPA is handing out money, they should also talk to the creators of this real-life film-making robot, which is able to analyze individual film frames and then join the best parts together as a finished film.

(Selected robot film images)
From The Mind's Eye (pdf) via Wired.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/18/2010)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.
| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 1 )
Related News Stories -
("
Artificial Intelligence
")
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'- Gene Roddenberry, 1986.
Universal Translator: Google Translate Has 51 Offline Language Packs
He immediately turned the small shining disc of the Language Rectifier on his instrument till the pointer rested on 'French.'- Hugo Gernsback, 1911.
AI 'Doctor' System Better Than Human
'But they got him into the autodoc anyway.'- Larry Niven, 1970.
Read My Lips - Computer Interprets Human Emotion
Soon, the emotion chip.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
|
 |
Current News
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
More SF in the News Stories
More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories
|
 |