philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Camera system creates high-resolution 3D images from up to a kilometer away

The research team, led by Gerald Buller, a professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, describes a ToF imaging system that can gather high-resolution, 3D information about objects that are typically very difficult to image, from up to a kilometer away.

The system can resolve depth on the millimeter scale over long distances using a detector that can “count” individual photons.

The scanner is particularly good at identifying objects hidden behind clutter, such as foliage. However, it cannot render human faces, instead drawing them as dark, featureless areas. This is because at the long wavelength used by the system, human skin does not reflect back a large enough number of photons to obtain a depth measurement. However, the reflectivity of skin can change under different circumstances. "Some reports indicate that humans under duress—for example, with perspiring skin—will have significantly greater return signals,” and thus should produce better images, McCarthy says.

See the full story here: http://www.rdmag.com/news/2013/04/camera-system-creates-high-resolution-3d-images-kilometer-away

Project stores 3D images of world historic sites in limestone mine

We're out to build the Alexandria Library of 3D heritage data," said Tom Greaves, executive director of CyArk. Greaves is giving a presentation on the project at the SNW conference here this week.

Other sites around the world for which CyArk has already created digital images include the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the ancient Hindu temple complex at Angkor Wat, Easter Island's head statues, Inca ruins in Peru, and Thebes, the capital of ancient Egypt. Of course, not all the sites are all that ancient. Next week, CyArk will be in Australia generating a 3D digital image of the Sydney Opera House.

Greaves said changing to tape has also addressed latency and availability issues. CyArk makes two copies of its data, one to a tape drive it stores locally, and the other that gets shipped off to Iron Mountain's underground storage facility. Greaves said the locally stored tape drives can be accessed for restoration in less than 24 hours. "And frankly, we don't need 50 millisecond recovery time for most data we use," he said.

CyArk's website has been relatively popular, with 1.5 million hits since going live. CyArk also has an iPad app for viewing the historic sites.

"Visitors to our website can navigate it in 3D," Greaves said.

The website also provides a historic tour of sites, such as the Japanese-American confinement camps that were set up in California during World War II.

See the full story here: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238057/Project_stores_3D_images_of_world_historic_sites_in_limestone_mine

Famous butterfly inspires anti-counterfeiting nanotechnology

Unlike holography, which requires the application of dyes and pigments, NanoTech’s technique doesn’t add anything at all to the material: it merely takes away, drilling tiny holes into it to reflect light, like a sculptor chiseling from rock.

The company has spent the last few years refining the process and increasing the yield of useable products per attempt, and now its holographs are ready to see the light of day: NanoTech has shipped its first masters and expects to see its first products based on this process out in 2013. Confident that their process can be commercialized, NanoTech is partnering with large anti-counterfeiting firms to scale their operation and reach the global market.

See the full story here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/famous-butterfly-inspires-anti-counterfeiting-nanotechnology/article10600835/?cmpid=rss1

Here’s Some Of The Futuristic Technology Being Developed By The Geniuses At MIT

If you want to know what life will be like in 10 years, just take a look inside the MIT Media Lab.

We recently took a quick tour of the MIT Media Lab, where students are working on anything from robotics to programs that let you interact virtually with the real world. The slew of projects on display are guaranteed to get anyone thinking about the future.

MIT Media Lab has more than 20 different groups working on computing, speech technologies, tangible media, fluid interfaces, and much more.
See the full story with examples and pictures here: http://www.businessinsider.com/mit-media-lab-futuristic-projects-2013-3?op=1