Dustin Adams, a Ph.D student at the University of California at Santa Cruz, has teamed up with colleagues at his school in order to craft an app that helps visually impaired users line up the ideal snapshot. The project started out as a quiz, asking 54 people with varying degrees of ocular impairment what they found most difficult about taking photos. From there, he essentially boiled that down into requirements for a smartphone program. For starters, the app does away with a conventional shutter button, instead relying on an upward swipe gesture to grab a frame.
Moreover, it integrates face detection and voice accessibility, enabling the phone itself to talk to the photographer and alert him / her as to how many faces are detected and in focus. The app also captures a 30-second audio clip whenever the camera mode is activated, which helps remind users of what was going on during the capture of a shot. Unfortunately, there aren't any screenshots or videos of the app in action just yet, but that's scheduled to change when it's formally unveiled at the Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments conference in Greece later this month.
Via: NewScientist
Life can get pretty hectic sometimes. There’s school if you’re a student, work if you’re already working, and work plus school if you’re getting a graduate degree while doing some hard labor. With all the stuff you have to do on a daily basis, your life can pass you by, if you’re not careful.
So why not get one of these Autographers when they come out, so you can keep track of your life and see if you’re living the kind of life you’ve always wanted to live?
The Autographer is a wearable camera that automatically captures images based on the data that its five sensors – specifically, a magnetometer, color sensor, infrared detector, accelerometer, and thermometer. It uses this data, along with a special algorithm to automatically snap images of meaningful changes throughout the day (and your life).
Like a miniature version of the life-recording camera from several years back, the Autographer was originally created for users with dementia, so they can remember what they’ve been doing easily. But fortunately, some people convinced its creater, OMG, to also make it available to consumers.
The Autographer is priced at £399 (~$649 USD) and will launch in the UK this November. Launches for Japan and the US will follow afterward.
The sun is setting on Germany's monster of a photo show, but Photokina didn't come and go without shaking up the industry. The biennial trade show drew all the big names -- Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony and many more manufacturers all had their latest wares on display for tens of thousands of photographers, journalists and local attendees -- with each company releasing a suite of impressive products. Canon and Nikon made an impression with their $2,100 6D and D600 full-frame DSLRs, while Olympus, Panasonic, Sony and Fujifilm each upped the ante with new mirrorless lineups, and Leica demoed its new M, which for the first time brings live-view and video capture to the high-end rangefinder series. The fun doesn't stop there, though -- there was plenty more to explore, and you'll find it all in our wrap-up just after the break.
Filed under: Announcements, Cameras
Photokina 2012 wrap-up: Canon, Nikon, lust-worthy Leicas, a full-frame Sony compact and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 09:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Germany just can't get enough of Engadget, it seems. Just two weeks after the close of IFA in Berlin, we're back in the land of Bier and Honig, for a camera-fueled journey to Cologne. This giant photography trade show is held only once every two years -- the last Photokina was way back in 2010 -- and it's arguably the industry's biggest event, drawing manufacturers the world abound to launch their latest prosumer and professional devices. We won't likely see a blockbuster product like Samsung's Galaxy Camera, but there could be another Android shooter or two in store, along with plenty of updates to last year's advanced compacts and mirrorless cams, and a modest spattering of full-frame DSLRs. We'll be bringing you all the news as it happens, so keep your eyes peeled to this very site to catch the action as it goes down.
Filed under: Announcements, Cameras
We're live from Photokina 2012 in Cologne, Germany! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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