Omni-focus video camera to revolutionize industry

Full Story

TORONTO, ON – University of Toronto, a world-leading research university, announces a breakthrough development in video camera design. The Omni-focus Video Camera, based on an entirely new distance-mapping principle, delivers automatic real-time focus of both near and far field images, simultaneously, in high resolution. This unprecedented capability can be broadly applied in industry, including manufacturing, medicine, defense, security -- and for the consumer market.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e01804a2dd56.jpg[/atsimg]
Caption: The resulting image shown in Figure 1a (taken with a prototype using two-color video cameras) clearly demonstrates how the omni-focused output dramatically differs from that of a conventional camera, shown in Figure 1b. Note that in the omni-focused image, the fingers in the foreground are so sharply focused that even the fingerprints are easily recognized. Credit: University of Toronto

This technology should do wonders for those out of focus images of UFO's among many other subjects on ATS where a photo can speak volumes for the claim being made. Then again, Photoshop keeps getting better and better as well. Their new Content Aware Fill feature is going to make it that much more difficult to distinguish HOAX! photos from the real thing now IMO.

[edit on 5/5/2010 by UberL33t]

This kind of camera could be fun for making pictures where it looks like you're holding something like the Eiffel Tower on your hand too, or get a friend to stand in the background waving his arms and make it look like you're trying to pop his head with your fingers close to the lens

reply to post by doogle


Good observation! I have seen plenty of those type of pics online, the infamous holding back the Leaning Tower of Pisa comes to mind.

Cool technology, but I hope it does not become standard.

I work in the television production field, and part of the way things are communicated visually is what we choose to be in focus in a given shot.

Also, the lack of focus in all areas provides an illusion of depth to the 2D images we create.

Images where both near and far which are all equally in focus in not natural and seems odd.

I guess for medical and science applications it may have benefit, but not for storytelling, in my opinion.

Don't worry, I work in the same field, and the trouble we go to, to make things look out of focus is unbelievable.

In fact the big trend lately is to use the new canon 5D, 7D's to get that 'out of focus' look with long lens' which digi beta cams just can't do. I think an entire episode of house was recently shot on one of these 'stills cameras'. Wonderful tech.

I have no idea why anyone would want this 'everything in focus' tech at this point when the industry is going in the reverse.

Originally posted by zlastonetoknow
I work in the television production field, and part of the way things are communicated visually is what we choose to be in focus in a given shot.

[edit on 5-5-2010 by ppk55]

double post please delete

[edit on 5-5-2010 by ppk55]

as a filmmaker too I agree

I bought my 5DMark 2 for the depth of field!!!

T.

There are gonna be good hoaxes of UFO's when this is out for the public

reply to post by zlastonetoknow

I work in the television production field, and part of the way things are communicated visually is what we choose to be in focus in a given shot.

I thought of this as I was uploading the diagram. On the thought of pics, more so ones that (albeit a 2d image) really do need some out of focus portion of the shot in order to try and gauge depth in my experience of many threads on ATS where a photo was the evidence.

As I am by no means a photography expert, I still think that the out of focus portion of a 2d image is where our brains are able to determine size and gauge distance in a lot of cases.