Hasta La Gadget!

Sure, you love the HDR pictures coming from your point-and-shoot, smartphone or perhaps even your Glass. But what if you want to Hangout in HDR? An enterprising grad student from the University of Toronto named Tao Ai — under the tutelage of Steve Mann — has figured out how to shoot HDR video in real-time. The trick was accomplished using a Canon 60D DSLR running Magic Lantern firmware and an off-the-shelf video processing board with a field programmable gate array (FPGA), plus some custom software to process the video coming from the camera. It works by taking in a raw feed of alternatively under and over exposed video and storing it in a buffer, then processing the video on its way to a screen. What results is the virtually latency-free 480p resolution HDR video at 60 frames per second seen in our video after the break.

When we asked whether higher resolution and faster frame rate output is possible, we were told that the current limitations are the speed of the imaging chip on the board and the bandwidth of the memory buffer. The setup we saw utilized a relatively cheap $200 Digilent board with a Xilinx chip, but a 1080p version is in the works using a more expensive board and DDR3 memory. Of course, the current system is for research purposes only, but the technology can be applied in consumer devices — as long as they have an FPGA and offer open source firmware. So, should the OEM’s get with the program, we can have HDR moving pictures to go with our stationary ones.

Filed under: Cameras, HD

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By combining a camera that detects surfaces with one that perceives motion, Canadian university researchers and Autodesk have made a sensor that reads finger gestures based on which part of your body you swipe. The first camera can detect pre-programmed materials like clothing, which would allow finger movements made across your pants or or shirt to activate commands that call specific people or compose an email, for instance. Autodesk sees this type of input as a possible compliment to smartphones or Google Glasses (which lack a useful input device), though it says the motion detection camera isn’t accurate enough yet to replace a mouse. Anyway, if you wanted that kind of device for your digits, it already exists — in spades.

Continue reading Autodesk researchers develop ‘magic finger’ that reads gestures from any surface (video)

Filed under: Displays, Wearables

Autodesk researchers develop ‘magic finger’ that reads gestures from any surface (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 08:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solar cell development is typically a small numbers game, and a group of researchers at the University of Toronto have managed to eke out a few more percentage points in efficiency with a new record-breaking cell. Setting a high mark for this type of cell, the team’s Colloidal Quantum Dot (CQD) film harvests both visible and non-visible light at seven percent efficiency, a 37 percent increase over the previous record. The breakthrough was achieved by leveraging organic and inorganic chemistry to make sure it had fewer nooks and crannies that don’t absorb light. With the advantages of relatively speedy and cheap manufacturing, the technology could help lead the way for mass production of solar cells on flexible substrates. In the meantime, check out the source for the scientific lowdown.

Filed under: Science

Researchers create record-breaking solar cell, set bar marginally higher originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Aug 2012 03:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink IEEE Spectrum  |  University of Toronto  | Email this | Comments