CoDAC Brings Kinect To Smartphones

#-Link-Snipped-# startled the world when it brought #-Link-Snipped-# into technological scene. Moreover, the 'sixth sense technology' for which #-Link-Snipped-# is famous, has made Human machine interface an interesting activity. However, as far as Kinect is concerned, you would not want to carry whole setup with you for playing games wherever you go. It would be smarter, if you can just reduce its size and carry it with you in your Smartphone!

#-Link-Snipped-#
MIT scientists developed 'Depth Sensing Camera' in which depth is depicted with shades of Grey. | Image Credit: MIT News

Yes, that is possible. Thanks to the efforts by MIT scientists who were recently awarded a $100,000 grant for their breakthrough. The group has brought Kinect that was mainly limited by Xbox to handheld devices. The technology is called Compressive Depth Acquisition Camera (CoDAC). For developing it, the MIT research team concentrated their efforts on devising technique to properly sense the 3D map of an object, with which the system has to interact.

Conventionally used cameras rely on method of travelling signals. Time taken by laser light which is reflected back from an object is measured and the process is repeated. In this way, complete arena is systematically brought in a digital format. However, practically speaking, the process is slower as only single laser light and a single sensing device is used. Moreover, you often require a mechanical arrangement to move the laser beam. Now, for increasing speed, you will need to multiply the number of laser pulses and sensing equipment, making the process costly.

The technique developed by MIT's research lab of Electronics, involves passage of laser light through randomly generated patterns. The patterns make use of an algorithm specially designed by the team for this purpose. The algorithm is based on mathematics and is able to generate a 2D picture of scene before it, digitally. The addition of third dimension is due to another technique called parametric signal processing.

The technology invented by MIT team is economical. Interestingly, it is compatible with processors used in #-Link-Snipped-#. Check out the video by Vivek Goyal, the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering. In this video, he can be seen giving a brief overview of CoDAC.

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