Hasta La Gadget!

We expect our devices to know what’s going on. Automatic doors, smartphones, temperature control systems and beyond all perform actions when they detect certain conditions. And it seems like it would just be convenient to put cameras on everything so devices could have eyes on all different situations. It would also be creepy, but we’ll leave that aside for now.

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After a considerable delay from its slated late 2012 release date, the 6K Red Dragon sensor is finally ready — and it seems to have been worth the wait. The first test footage (after the break) has come from cinematographer and Red booster Mark Toia, who stress-tested it in difficult conditions like high contrast daylight and dark night scenes. Afterwards, he said the camera has three more f-stops of dynamic range than the MX-equipped Epic and thinks the new sensor brings the “best highlight falloff I’ve ever seen from any digital camera,” including Sony’s $65,000 CineAlta F65 4K model. Though Red put on a show of upgrading Epic and Epic-X cameras with Dragon earlier this spring, the company recently said that deliveries would start in September. Meanwhile, Dragon equipped cameras are in the hands of other notable DPs and directors too, like Peter Jackson, Michael Bay and Darius Woski — meaning you can likely expect a deluge of Dragon eye-candy over the coming weeks.

Filed under: Cameras

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Source: Reduser

People lie to their doctors all the time, even though it’s for their own good. There’s a new invention in the works that makes it impossible to deny you had that extra slab of steak or that you smoked a couple of cigarettes: tooth sensors.

They were developed by a team from the National Taiwan University. Aside from being able to detect if the person is overeating or sneaking in a couple of smokes when he or she shouldn’t be, the system also informs the doctor about it.

The sensors were tested by sticking them onto eight dentures. The researchers discovered that the sensor had the capacity to distinguish between chewing, speaking, and smoking about 94% of the time.

It’s definitely an interesting gadget, although it might be a while before it’s deployed. But the question is: would you be willing to wear it, knowing your teeth will tell on you?

[via New Scientist and Motherboard via Engadget via Geeky Gadgets]

Apple has been granted a new patent related to camera tech by the USPTO today (via AppleInsider), which uses three different sensors and three different lenses to improve color-capture accuracy and image resolution for photos shot with an iPhone or other mobile device. The system is similar to the two-sensor Apple patent around mobile cameras the company applied for recently, but it solves a different kind of imaging problem.

This sensor arrangement would improve upon most mobile camera designs by using two chorminance sensors, each of which is placed to one side of a luminance sensor. The luminance or light sensor would determine light levels of the image, while the chrominance sensors would be responsible for accurately capturing color data. Two chrominance sensors arranged in that manner would be able to compensate for blind spots in each other’s field of view, ensuring accurate color rendering for all scenes.

If color info is missing from any part of the scene, as can happen with traditional combined sensor arrangements, then overall photo resolution suffers, too, because of a lack of data, so this would improve not only color rendering but overall image quality. And the information drawn from the two chrominance sensors would also be useful in automatically correcting for distortion caused by the camera lens.

Last week, as mentioned, Apple patented dual-sensor imaging for iPhones, that would automatically combine two separate images to correct for flaws in either. Combined with this sensor design, it begins to be apparent that Apple is doing lots of work on the imaging side of its mobile offerings. The iPhone has long been held up as an example of the best camera in smartphones, but competitors are starting to focus innovation on their own camera designs, the Lumia 1020 being probably the most recent memorable example.

Apple probably doesn’t have much to fear from Windows Phone devices, feature rich as they may be, but a significant camera improvement is a good way to attract customers with something new. Don’t expect changes like these to iPhone cameras coming in the next update this fall, but definitely consider this an area to watch over the next few years.

In today’s sci-fi-inches-closer-to-reality news, Sony has filed a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for integrated camera sensors that can tag movies and photographs with your vital signs. The application, which can be read in full at the source below, describes a system of intensely personalized filings on your mobile device or camera. Rather than tagging those awkward family photos as “The Johnsons at Christmas dinner,” you would theoretically be able to attach your own biological data to the image, including body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, blood oxygen level and skin conductance. Camera units would contain dedicated sensors for vitals that would attach such information to the file, like a weirdly personal time stamp. Why you’d want to have your blood pressure associated with your photos, we’re not quite sure, but Sony, at least, is determined to fill a void we didn’t even know existed.

Filed under: Cameras, Peripherals, Sony

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Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office