Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Computational Photography: Image Of The Future
Computational photography focuses on the future in a way that today's digital camera does not. Digital cameras are really just like cameras have been for a hundred and fifty years; they focus light onto a chip instead of onto film.
CSAIL researchers Bill Freeman and Frédo Durand is a way of expanding the possibilites; it uses the images as a set of data that are manipulated using computer algorithms. Take a look at the three pictures shown below to see how computational photography can eliminate blurring.
(Computational photography eliminates blurring)
“Right now digital photography is very much modeled after what worked for film exposures, which is having a single snapshot where that’s the final answer. With computational photography it’s a set of data and you can go and process it,” said Freeman. “Through computational photography I think it will be much easier to get sharp images, to get high-dynamic range images, to get panoramic images, to get really nice photos from small hand-held devices.”Durand and Freemand are also interested in extracting more information from a scene. To examine motion, they developed a technique to magnify it. Through this procedure, viewers can compare the movements of two cars with different loads or closely examine an infant’s breathing. As these algorithms allow users to expand specific movements exponentially, parents and doctors could use this approach to ensure a child is breathing normally at night.
“One thing I tend to say is that computation is the new optics,” said Durand. “If I wanted to see something smaller before I would just get a bigger microscope, but now we can create algorithms that reveal what would not be visible otherwise, and that’s really exciting.”
Fans of the 1982 movie Blade Runner recall the Esper photo analysis which allowed Deckard to zoom in on areas of interest in photographs.
(Blade Runner Esper photo analysis machine)
For another science-fictional take on photography, consider the Agfom potent shot film used in Philip K. Dick's 1964 novel Clans of the Alphane Moon:
Moving toward the door, Alfson said, "Glad to. This film I'm using - I'm sure you've run across it at CIA; it's expensive, but helpful." He explained to both Chuck and Joan. "I've just taken an Agfom potent-shot. Does that strike a chord? What I have in this camera is not a record of what you did just now but what will go on here in the next half hour..."
Via this excellent article at CSAIL.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/22/2011)
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 ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Computer ")
ElectionSim: China's 'Ender's Game' Battle Sim, Or Lem's 'Kingdom In A Box'?
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.' - Orson Scott Card, 1985.
Muxcard Redditor's DIY Credit Card-Sized Computer
It's a computer, but just barely.
Cortex 1 - Today A Warehouse, Tomorrow A Calculator Planet
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...' - Clifford Simak, 1949.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.' - Isaac Asimov, 1975.
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.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
Can Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Control The Weather?
'...I saw a nice black heavy-looking cloud sailing by just now, and I can get the electrical machine out in five minutes to draw it down.'
SETI Suggests Prospecting The Solar System Without Landing
'From a distance it could resolve the cosmic rays reflected from various substances.'
Wolfram Alpha Mathematica Predicted by Science Fiction in 1948!
'The answer to the dumb student's prayer.'
Cislunar Space And The Space Lanes of Golden Age Science Fiction
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...'
NASA Moonbase Update
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...'
Neuralink Will Allow Humans To Communicate With ... Animals?
'Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind.'
Special Lights For Driverless Cars!
'That light is actually the Anamorphic Equalizer...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Harrison Bergeron, Illustrated And Practiced
'But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George winced...'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'Maybe The Woman Of Your Life Is Still Under Production'
'The Dillard people had performed a miracle and put all the works in a girl-modeled case.'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
