Software for 2D-3D conversion - Avatar follower

StereoTracer is designed for creating 3D image out of one 2D image by means of «depth-map». The depth-map (disparity image or Z-image) serves to convert a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional one. In the depth-map the gray color gradation shows each pixel's distance from the viewer. The lighter area in the depth-map correspond to the areas nearer to the viewer, the darker ones correspond to more distant areas.

A «depth-map» can be created from source one 2D image or stereopair automatically in StereoTracer. "How to" is available here.



StereoTracer generates a number of images which all have a slightly different viewing angle. This process models shooting of a scene from different points across the horizontal line. Resultant series of images is used for creating 3D (stereo) image by method of anaglyph encoding or making multi-view 3D lenticular picture in Triaxes 3DMasterKit or other lenticular generating application. Also a series of frames can be exported into a movie clip (AVI or animated GIF) and used for presentation purposes.


http://triaxes.com/

Sublime HTML5 HD Video Player

All tests run on the following hardware:

Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 3 GHz
Number of Processors: 2
Total Number of Cores: 8
L2 Cache: 12 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz

For browsers, the latest release browser versions were used. For Flash Player, I used the latest labs release (Flash Player 10.1 Beta 3 : 10,1,51,95).

Mac OS X Versions
=================

Mac OS X 10.6.2
Google Chrome 5.0.307.9 beta
Safari 4.0.4 (6531.21.10)
Firefox 3.6
Flash Player MAC 10,1,51,95

Windows 7 Versions
==================

Windows 7 7600
Google Chrome 4.0.249.89 (38071)
Safari 4.0.4 (531.21.10)
Firefox 3.6
Internet Explorer 8.0.7600.16385
Flash Player WIN 10,1,51,95

Sublime HTML 5 HD Video Example
===============================

Mac Windows
Google Chrome 85% 24%
Safari 21% 104%
Firefox 85% 80%
Internet Explorer NA Did Not Work


http://jilion.com/sublime/video

An other interesting HTML5 Video Sample page (Opera)

http://annevankesteren.nl/2008/fronteers-html5-video

And Finally a future yet to be release HTML5 book

http://diveintohtml5.org/video.html

Other interesting benchmark

http://themaninblue.com/writing/perspective/2010/03/22/


Conclusion HTML5 is catching up...

Android WebView

WebView allows you to create your own window for viewing web pages (or even develop a complete browser). In this tutorial, you'll create a simple Activity that can view and navigate web pages.




1.Create a new project named HelloWebView.
2.Open the res/layout/main.xml file and insert the following:


android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"/>

3.Now open the HelloWebView.java file. At the top of the class, declare a WebView object:

WebView mWebView;

Then use the following code for the onCreate() method:

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mWebView = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.webview); mWebView.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(true); mWebView.loadUrl("http://www.thomasyounsi.com");
}
This initializes the member WebView with the one from the Activity layout;
requests a WebSettings object with getSettings();
and enables JavaScript for the WebView with setJavaScriptEnabled(boolean).
Finally, an initial web page is loaded with loadUrl(String).

4.Because this application needs access to the Internet, you need to add the appropriate permissions to the Android manifest file.
Open the AndroidManifest.xml file and add the following as a child of the element:


What is very powerful with WebView is that you can use a two way communication between the content which is display in the web view and the Java application. This can be accomplished by using JavaScript running inside the WebView calling out Java code to get the updated fragment for the HTML div bloc that require to be use to update the content running inside the view. This means you can use HTML div to layout your content and expand/collapse a div based on user action. The content can come from a remote database, a web service or as a JSON Object.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex7YsQ_YH2U

Apple iPad / Microsoft Surface

In 2007, Microsoft annonced Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface represents a new category of computing. With capabilities like direct interaction, multi-touch, multi-user, and object recognition, Microsoft Surface computing is a unique and cutting edge platform for application development.

The Microsoft Surface platform goes beyond the capabilities of its core operating system foundation running Windows Vista SP1, yet it keeps the development process simple. The Microsoft Surface SDK 1.0 SP1 provides all the controls a developer needs to create innovative experiences on Microsoft Surface. And with the new capabilities that come with Service Pack 1, application development is easier than ever with new WPF controls and API enhancements that give developers more control, flexibility, and efficiency in creating applications.

Plus, in order to enable a broad developer audience, Microsoft Surface is compatible with familiar programs and tools developers use today, such as:

Microsoft® Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
Microsoft® XNA™
Microsoft® Visual C#® 2008 Express Edition
Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2008 SP1
Microsoft® Expression® Studio 2
Microsoft® Expression Blend™ 2

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/Pages/Product/Platform.aspx

In 2010 Apple launched the iPad.

The sdk is the same than the sdk used by the Apple iPhone

http://developer.apple.com/ipad/sdk/

The specs have been posted on Apple's web site.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

Screen size = 1024x768 and my interest will go immediately for TV and video

Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Dock Connector to VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable
H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format.

iPad Price starting at 499$

It would be nice to see microsoft coming with a small tablet "surface capable" 1280x720 P resolution where people could put there camera or phone in place on top of the tablet running an application in "surface application mode" to exchange and share contents (picture/music/video).

A commercial Microsoft Surface unit is $12,500 (unit only), whereas a developer Microsoft Surface unit costs $15,000 and includes a developer unit, five seats and support. However, Microsoft said it expects prices to drop enough to make consumer versions feasible in 2010. Microsoft would have to come with a price 20x lower than the actual Microsoft Surface unit to compete with the iPad. I think it is time to come up with a product...