The Frankencamera: An Experimental Platform for
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Adams, A., Talvala, E., Park, S. H., Jacobs, D. E., Ajdin, B., New!
We've publically released the FCam API for N900. This is the API for the Frankencamera architecture described in the paper, and it's how we implemented all of the applications in the paper. It's open source, and comes with some neat example apps. Go here to get started.
Abstract
Although there has been much interest in computational photography
within the research and photography communities, progress has been
hampered by the lack of a portable, programmable camera with
sufficient image quality and computing power. To address this problem,
we have designed and implemented an open architecture and API for such
cameras: the Frankencamera. It consists of a base hardware
specification, a software stack based on Linux, and an API for
C++. Our architecture permits control and synchronization of the
sensor and image processing pipeline at the microsecond time scale, as
well as the ability to incorporate and synchronize external hardware
like lenses and flashes. This paper specifies our architecture and
API, and it describes two reference implementations we have built.
Using these implementations we demonstrate six computational
photography applications: HDR viewfinding and capture, low-light
viewfinding and capture, automated acquisition of extended dynamic
range panoramas, foveal imaging, IMU-based hand shake detection, and
rephotography. Our goal is to standardize the architecture and
distribute Frankencameras to researchers and students, as a step
towards creating a community of photographer-programmers who develop
algorithms, applications, and hardware for computational cameras.
At ACM: Full reference Preprint: fcam.pdf SIGGRAPH Presentation Slides (pdf): fcam-sigtalk.pdf Video: fcam.mov Supplemental Material: API Documentation and Example Programs Reprinted in:
CACM, November 2012, with an introductory
technical perspective by Richard Szeliski
FCam Software: The FCam API is now available for the Nokia N900. Get it here.
Related paper: If you're wondering how we think the Frankencamera (and future platforms like it) might affect the camera industry, read our article in IEEE CG&A, Experimental platforms for computational photography. Articles in the press: The web page of our Camera 2.0 project includes a list of articles that have been written about this project. However, not all of them are accurate. We recommend starting with the two Stanford Reports. | |||||
