I’ve been working with some Active Appearance Models again. Here are a few in-progress samples of automatic face fitting and rebuilding on faces that were not in the training set for the AAM. Recognize any faces?

Here’s a great entry by Yoshimasa Niwa on his website detailing various aspects of using OpenCV on the iPhone.  So far, this is the best setup and description I’ve found.  Great stuff!

The iPad event video.

Ok, so even the “day-of,” there were already many nay-sayers, complaining of no-camera, no-multi-tasking, no flash, etc. There are those who are saying the price is not worth it — why not just buy a computer or netbook or whatnot.  There are those who are saying it’s no “Kindle-killer.” Yes, there is truth in those viewpoints, I suppose, but the problem is that most people are doing what most people usually do — classify things in terms of what they already know. The problem with that approach [which is the norm, unfortunately] is that it limits thinking.  We will tend to think of the tablet as a PDA, or as a computer, or as an e-Book reader and classify it in terms of what we have already seen.  If one stops to consider the device for what it is, without the encumbrances of classifying it, it becomes more apparent that it is revolutionary.  Here are some reasons why:

• The first, most obvious reason, perhaps is that this device does most of what most computer users buy computers to do.  It is designed to use applications for web, email, photos, video, books, documents, and more (without even considering new media possibilities).  What is a game-changer is that it is intended to do these effortlessly with speed and grace while implying a physicality to things and providing enjoyment for the user.  All of this, while also doing it nearly anywhere in the world. Why buy a clunky PC, laptop, or even netbook when you can carry a 1.5 lb device that does all of these with style and an interface that is beyond any of those.
• There are many of us who enjoy a “physicality” to things — books, photo albums, paper, etc. The interface, not merely discussing the touch capability, but including the graphical layout, gesture movement, and animation of applications that have been developed and will be developed can embrace the idea of implying that physicality that we miss when moving from “real world” objects with which we interact to digital objects. The interactions with media on this device will be very appealing, as they will mirror our physical interactions that have been lacking from much of the digital world.
• Many thought that the event would focus on changing media.  The hour and a half of presentation did not do this to a large degree, but that does not mean that this is not one of the intentions behind the device. The New York Times app is only a small sample of things to come. There will be new models of digital magazines, of course, as well as textbooks and most likely forms of media that we have not yet considered. The iPad may not be a “Kindle-killer” because of cost and a display that is not quite as easy on the eyes for long-term reading.  [Try turning down the brightness on your monitor using Brightness Control or on your iPhone, to levels dimmer than you might have considered to match ambient surroundings, though, and it will greatly decrease that eye-strain]. Despite that, though, the iPad most likely is a Kindle DX-killer.  Why spend a similar cost for the DX, primarily purchased for .PDF files and textbooks, when you can purchase something with this tremendous interface. Another comment worth considering is that in many senses, the iPad helps Amazon.  They will likely update their Kindle app for the larger screen, so e-books could be purchased from Amazon or the Apple iBooks store. (Competition can be good). The design of this device will be the best thing, yet, for digital book and magazine content that goes beyond reading simple text for longer periods of time — beautiful photos, videos, and interactive content that can augment the reading experience.
• Finally, for the main reason that this is another “game-changer,” one has to pause to consider beyond the confines of current devices. There will be apps created in the coming year that can only exist well on this device.  For example, there are only a handful (forgive the pun) of apps on the iPhone that have provided a truly new experience, but those that do have been spectacular. There are simply things that cannot be done easily with keyboards, mice, separate monitors, and small screens. Several apps have demonstrated creative thinking and interfaces that would not be possible on the standard computer: Hitchcock,SketchBook Mobile, Brushes, TiltShift, UrbanSpoon, Ocarina, BeBot, Ragdoll Blast, Bump, etc. There will be similar iPad apps that push boundaries (because the developers view this as a new device rather than the things we’re accustomed to using) — using the larger touch/gesture interface, involving multiple users, displaying more visuals and more information. Over the coming year and beyond, there will be many groundbreaking new apps that we have not considered, yet.

Those are a few of the reasons that I believe many nay-sayers have not completely considered things to come. Also, those who miss the camera, a stylus, etc. — don’t worry, those things will come soon enough.  A few years from now, you’ll see a lot more people carrying these things rather than laptops.

Here’s Engadget’s live blog coverage.

Here is Apple’s video with Jonathan Ives.

For more examples of what will come, check out the tablet concept videos below.

I’m up in the D.C. area for a few days to participate in the IEEE Biometrics: Theory, Applications, and Systems (BTAS) 2009 conference. There’s always some interesting new work, of course. I’m presenting some work on Monday, myself. Here are some sample images that I synthetically age-progressed with the techniques that I’ve been researching.

I’m also looking forward to the U2 concert on Tues. evening at FedEx! I caught them a while back at Clemson and also in Columbia, SC. I feel a little bit like I saw them recently, too, with the U2-3D thing that was pretty impressive and immersive. It’s been a good year for concerts including this and catching a lot of neat groups at Bonnaroo this past summer.

Just got back from NAB 2009 in Las Vegas, NV.  One of the main highlights for me was the Red User event on Wednesday at the Rio. It was fun to meet and talk with other Red One users as well as see all the new stuff and even meet Jim Jannard. He’s a really neat guy — fun, down-to-earth, and inspiring.

The new Red primes were demonstrated with resolution charts projected and compared against Cooke and Zeiss primes.  The Red primes looked great!  No question that they were actually better on the edges — so sharp.  Very impressive optics.  They covered the full-frame 35mm range and were sharp, clear, and crisp throughout.

There were prototypes, with a very nice machined-metal look, on display for the Scarlet and Epic.  They were very dramatically lit, of course.  The flexibility, new accessories, size, etc. looked very promising.  It will be exciting to continue to see demo stills and footage from these cameras as they are nearing their release.

The Red demo reel for the past year was projected at 4K, and despite weaknesses of the environment, the reel looked magnificent!  The latitude, contrast, color, and resolution looked as good or better than anything I’ve seen projected, yet.  By the way, it’s online now, so here’s a link to the Red Reel. (Right click to save).

Also, there’s no doubt that seeing last year’s demo reel streamed in 4k resolution via 10 Mbps (yes, mega-bits) to 4k projection via Red Ray was also very impressive.  The compression technology and decoding has obviously been well engineered.

One of my other favorite’s from the week was definitely the CMOCOS motion control rig.  The movement was very impressive — controlled via inverse kinematics.  Movements could be made in a variety of very complex motions with smooth and accurate movement, and the rig could also be operator-posed.  For their demo at the Red User event, they had a Red One attached, of course — doing some pretty cool moves.

Those were some of the things I deemed most revolutionary There were a lot of other interesting and fun things to checkout at the rest of NAB, too, of course.  I enjoyed getting to see the Steadicam/Segway combo Transporter in person as well as a great Red One underwater rig good to 400′ and a swanky 3-D Red One rig. Along with all of that, there was plenty of great new post software, grip and lighting gear, and cameras as well. (Barry Green managed to find a Panasonic GH1 apparently, but I didn’t — the rep had not a clue). There was also some neat 3D stuff projected by Pixar and others, talks on Digital Cinema, changes in all things film and video, etc.  It’s always inspiring to see all the new stuff and think of the hard work and creative thought that goes into it!

It is a tricky question.  I’ve been doing so much preparation and bodywork on the 280Z and have not even gotten it painted yet, but I am already trying to decide which color to paint the bus when its day comes around.  I think that there is definitely an art to choosing a car’s color — certain hues and shades only work well on certain body styles, and some of these seem to work particularly well for a certain car.  Any thoughts or suggestions?  Which do you like?