Israeli Experts Create Deep Zoom Tool for Videos

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: bobr () bobrosenberg phoenix az us
Date: July 3, 2009 11:28:58 AM EDT
To: "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>
Subject: Israeli Experts Create Deep Zoom Tool for Videos

Hi Dave

Perhaps for I.P.

[irony]

Privacy advocates will be thrilled!

[/irony]

Cheers,
Bob

--  
Bob Rosenberg
P.O. Box 33023
Phoenix, AZ  85067-3023
Mobile:  602-206-2856
LandLine:  602-274-3012
bob () bobrosenberg phoenix az us



Israeli Experts Create Deep Zoom Tool for Videos
It could help catch more bad guys

By Tudor Vieru, Science Editor
1st of July 2009, 10:40 GMT
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Israeli-Experts-Create-Deep-Zoom-Tool-for-Videos-115552.shtml

Scientists at the Tel Aviv University have recently announced the  
development of a
new “perfection” tool for analyzing video footage, which would allow  
investigators
watching them to zoom in and correct the image to the point where the  
person in it
becomes recognizable. Needless to say, the application could soon be  
implemented in
surveillance offices around the world and in counter-terrorism  
divisions in all
major countries. Primarily, its creators say, the goal of the system  
is to make
low-quality, low-frame rate videos more useful to police departments  
and security
guards.

The tool can be used in both black-and-white and color video footage,  
as it works
just as well in either environment, Tel Aviv University Professor Leonid
Yaroslavsky, the leader of the research team behind the new method,  
says. The
contract for it was given to the university by a defense-related  
company, which
wanted to have a tool at its disposal that would allow it to observe  
details that
the naked eye could not see. One of its demands was that the system  
operate in
real-time as well, and not only in recordings. The Israeli researchers  
also managed
to successfully complete this part of the assignment.

“This enhancement of resolution can be a critical factor in locating  
terrorists or
identifying criminal suspects,” Professor Yaroslavsky, whose team  
published details
of the new tool in the latest issues of the scientific journals  
Optical Letters and
Journal of Real Time Image Processing, explains. “Our video perfection  
tool works to
improve visual quality and achieving a higher resolution of the video  
image,” he
adds, saying that the implementation of the new device is just months  
away. As soon
as a commercial partner is found, the method will be retrofitted on  
existing
systems, and mounted as a default on future surveillance systems as  
well.

“It's quite a new approach to video perfection. A lot of work has been  
done in this
field, so it's very gratifying to find a new and original  
application,” Yaroslavsky
says. He explains that the camera functions by surpassing the  
“turbulent atmosphere”
problem, which refers to the fact that video cameras pick up a “fuzzy”  
signal, if
they observe something from a large distance, or with poor resolution.  
Rather than
looking directly at the target, the new technique revolves around  
using algorithms
to analyze the background of the scene, which usually remains still,  
and creating an
image according to it.






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