Book: Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications (Richard Szeliski)
A new book, Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications will be released soon. (It can be pre-ordered.) The author, Dr. Richard Szeliski (Mircrosoft Research), provides details on a variety of techniques to analyze and interpret images. There is a repository for drafts of his book, which is available for personal use. According to the site (http://szeliski.org/Book/), the book is based on computer vision courses he taught at University of Washington.
Click here to pre-order the book.
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Persistent wide-FOV surveillance on balloon
Researchers at University of Central Florida, led by Drs. Arjun Nagendran, Don Harper and Mubarak Shah, are developing surveillance systems mounted on a helium balloon. The vision system would provide high-resolution imagery over a wide field-of-view. Together with an inertial navigation system, camera location and orientation are synchronized with video. More information is available in a SPIE web article.
Xbox Kinect bundle available Nov 4
The Microsoft Xbox Kinect (formerly project Natal) will be available starting Nov 4, 2010. The system will be sold as a bundle that includes a Kinect sensor bar, a 4GB Xbox 360 console, and the Kinect Adventures game. The bundle is priced at $299. Click here to preorder the Xbox Kinect bundle. Microsoft will also sell the Kinect Sensor bar
separately for existing Xbox 360 consoles for $149, including the game. The sensor bar includes the motion sensing technology, camera, and audio sensors to track gestures and control on-screen actions.
Related news on Computer Vision Central:
Natal gesture gaming system uses 15 percent of Xbox computing power
PrimeSense to supply Xbox motion-control system
Microsoft, Sony introduce camera-based motion sensing technologies for game consoles
Frankencamera open-source software available on Nokia N900
The open-source digital photography software platform, "Frankencamera," will be available as a free download for the Nokia N900. The software platform allows users to create novel camera capabilities and applications. The project is led by Dr. Marc Levoy (Stanford) together with Dr. Kari Pulli, a Nokia Fellow at the Nokia Research Center (NRC) Palo Alto. More information is available in a press release.
Related Article:
Stanford researchers build open-source camera.
ROILA - spoken language for robots
Researchers at Netherlands' Eindhoven University of Technology have created a spoken language for robots called ROILA (Robot Interaction Language). It is intended to be easy for both robot and humans to understand. The language combines elements from natural and artificial languages, with unique phonemes and words that sound different from each other. More information is available in the ROILA website.
