Video

The latest player in the Internet-to-your-TV world is the Boxee Box by D-Link. This set-top device is likely to put up a fair fight in the face of some big name competition including Apple TV, Sony Internet TV (armed with Google TV) and Logitech Revue (also running Google TV). Read More

Currently, computer search and classification of images is based on the name of the file or folder or on features such as size and date. That’s fine if the name of the file reflects its content but isn’t much good when the file is given an abstract name that only holds meaning to the person providing it. This drawback means companies in the search business, such as Google and Microsoft, are extremely interested in giving computers the ability to automatically interpret the visual contents and video. A technique developed by the University of Granada does just that, allowing pictures to be classified automatically based on whether individuals or specific objects are present in the images. Read More

Imagine if you were watching television coverage of a football game, where none of the cameras could zoom in. It would be pretty frustrating, just having to go from one wide shot to another, never being able to get a close look at any of the players. That’s pretty much how things are with audio, however. Unless someone has their own microphone, or is within line of sight of a parabolic mic, you’re not going to be hearing them very well. In the near future, however, that may not be the case. Norway’s Squarehead Technology has developed AudioScope, a system that allows users to acoustically “zoom in” on individual people in a large area, and follow them as they move around. Read More

Watching live CCTV footage of thousands of people, trying to pick out any sort of noteworthy activity... it sounds like a very tedious, difficult job for a human being. That’s why researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology are working on an electronic system that uses the principles of human motion vision to do the same job. It is part of the EU’s SEARISE project, which stands for Smart Eyes: Attending and Recognizing Instances of Salient Events. Read More

The development of a tiny new video projector has recently been announced by Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) via its spin-off company, Lemoptix. The projector is said to be smaller in area than a credit card, with a projection head measuring one cubic centimeter. Developers of the device foresee it becoming commercially available in smartphones, laptops and digital cameras, with industrial applications including possible use in operating rooms. Read More

Actress Carrie Fisher once made a great observation about how film folk can be looking at a fantastic real-life scene, yet all they’re able to think is “I wonder what this would look like on a movie screen.” Well, she might be similarly amused by FanVision. The electronic handheld device delivers video of sporting events to people who are already on-site, watching the live event in person. To be fair, it does provide some things that the average sports fan wouldn’t be able to see from the stands. Read More

We’ve told you before about CCTV programs that can identify criminal behavior, or that skip through footage where nothing’s happening. Now, a consortium of ten organizations from six European countries is working on another concept involving video monitoring of public spaces. It’s called the SUBITO project, for Surveillance of Unattended Baggage and the Identification and Tracking of the Owner, and it’s intended to do pretty much what the name suggests. Installed in existing security camera systems at places such as airports or train stations, the software will identify baggage that has been left unattended, and that could therefore possibly contain an explosive device. It will then search back to identify the person who deposited that baggage, then follow them forward through various cameras to establish their present location. Read More

James Bond, Evelyn Salt, Jason Bourne... One thing you'll notice about all secret agents (at least, the ones worthy of Hollywood franchise love) is that if they need to get the hell outta Dodge, ANY vehicle will do. These super-spies are just as comfortable behind the controls of a jet plane, a submarine, a tank or a jetpack as you or I are cruising around in an automatic car. Why let them have all the fun? Here's a 5-minute hi-def primer on the basics of flying a helicopter, so you'll know what you're doing next time you 'jack an Apache. Read More

I’ve always been fascinated by actioncams... or helmetcams, or POVcams, or whatever else you want to call them. Even before they were available to us mere consumers, I used to wonder, What would it look like if you could see what a camera saw, if it were mounted on that model airplane/squirrel’s back/cereal spoon/football, etc? Thus it was that when Drift Innovation released its high-def HD-170 this July, with its swiveling fisheye lens and viewing screen, I wanted to try one out. So I’d have something to compare it against, I also got hold of a GoPro HERO HD – probably the most popular actioncam currently available. I put the two through their paces, and you can see the results in the video that follows. Read More