Abusing Pyra as communication device (needs camera)


FBnil said:
+1 However, for those, fast, I need a picture... the Pyra will not boot on time to take a snapshot.
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In the empty space in my bag, that used to be taken up by laptop + charger + spare battery... I plan to put my Pyra, but also my old DSLR camera, so I can actually start using that again.

FBnil said:
+1 I was actually a bit dissapointed when I learned that I, yet again, need a new cable to see things on a big screen... makes sense though, but aargh... another cable...
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I just picked up a micro-HDMI to female HDMI adaptor for about $2, to solve that problem.

I'm slightly worried it will protrude and could put excessive torque on the port if I snag the wire or something, but I suppose that's still true if it was just a mini-HDMI cable plugged straight in.

The socket being on the back probably makes it less of an issue than if it was plugged into the sides of the device, while you try to hold it (like with most phone charger inlets).
 
Silent-Hunter said:
Replace the logo plate with a 20x20 grid of these cameras and interlace the output from all of them, it'll be 20 megapixels.
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Yes, just use many of them and interleave the output from them together.
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You do realise you'd need some fairly hefty optics to focus the image across the array right? (otherwise you'd end up with 400 almost identical 250x250 images) You'd end up with something that has the bulk of a DSLR without the image quality associated with one.

-Neelix
 
Neelix said:
You do realise you'd need some fairly hefty optics to focus the image across the array right? (otherwise you'd end up with 400 almost identical 250x250 images) You'd end up with something that has the bulk of a DSLR without the image quality associated with one.

-Neelix
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You can't just use the 400 separate images, and calculate a large image from the differences between them? I've seen a camera that does that.
 
Silent-Hunter said:
You can't just use the 400 separate images, and calculate a large image from the differences between them? I've seen a camera that does that.
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Do you have any references for that? I'd dismiss such a thing out of hand except that (now that you mention it) I vaguely recall hearing of something along those lines. I'm not convinced that you could get an accurate high definition image in such a way, (good looking perhaps, but accurate? probably not) and I rather suspect that if such a process does exist that it would be proprietary and patented.

-Neelix
 
FBnil said:
There is, if you consider the lower left corner (and forego the screw and screw holder). You see, there is still a bezel, and there are no keys opposite of that, so you can put the camera totally outside, and only the PCB inside. Also, maybe it fits inside the hinges, in the transparent prototype those are air now. The hole cut must be small, as to not compromise the stresses that the hinge receives from the lid. I plan to put my led lights there, and replace the pyra logo with something of my own...
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I'm not sure where you are talking about, so I can't really comment on it. However, if you manage to fit something there, then more power to you. ;)

-God Ginrai
 
Neelix said:
Do you have any references for that? I'd dismiss such a thing out of hand except that (now that you mention it) I vaguely recall hearing of something along those lines. I'm not convinced that you could get an accurate high definition image in such a way, (good looking perhaps, but accurate? probably not) and I rather suspect that if such a process does exist that it would be proprietary and patented.

-Neelix
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Sadly not, I can't remember the name. It was a university thing I think. I'll look for it tomorrow.
 
Neelix said:
Do you have any references for that? I'd dismiss such a thing out of hand except that (now that you mention it) I vaguely recall hearing of something along those lines. I'm not convinced that you could get an accurate high definition image in such a way, (good looking perhaps, but accurate? probably not) and I rather suspect that if such a process does exist that it would be proprietary and patented.

-Neelix
Click to expand...
You absolutely can do this! It's called lightfield imaging and it is an active area of research. In fact I plan to do my MSc dissertation on exactly this. bzar just linked to Pelican imaging, which is 5x5 and would be great if they ever actually sold it, but Lytro do essentially the same thing with a single sensor and microlenses. For a pure example check out the Stanford Multi Camera Array. There are a wealth of publications on this - google "lightfield superresolution" for examples.

I would *adore* having a lightfield camera on the back of the Pyra. The synthetic aperture is equivalent to the array size, so if you covered the back with little cameras it would be like having an SLR. The Pyra is well-equipped to do the necessary image processing, too.
 
put together a neat module compatible with the Pyra and we (or at least i) will buy it from ya :).
 
Very interesting. I think such a device might just be made to fit below the screen in the hinge area too. It sounds like having the right software would be critical though, and I'm very much getting the impression that the software itself is proprietary. Getting them to port it to armhf linux for the Pyra could be expensive.

Is there any known FOSS software to achieve this effect?

-Neelix
 
Nothing particularly polished as there are no commercial light field cameras besides Lytro, who provide their own software. However, the algorithms are not difficult. You'd probably want to implement something from scratch anyway to use the DSP, if that can be done. Also, you want somewhat different approaches depending on the dimensions of the array (eg a few high res cameras vs many low res cameras).

However, here are some existing solutions - not that they would be especially usable, but to show it's not rocket science: https://graphics.stanford.edu/software/lightpack/lifview.html https://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs348b-competition/cs348b-01/escher/ http://lightfield.stanford.edu/aperture.html https://wiki.tiker.net/PyCuda/Examples/LightField_3D_viewer

This strikes me as something niche and radical enough to function best as an addon product. The LCD board is mostly empty - an aftermarket kit could replace it and the back of the lid case with one with all the cameras, and a slightly thicker lid to accommodate the optics. You could probably get the signal out via another ribbon cable down the currently empty right hinge. Dunno where you'd wire it up though.

Pelican's chip is indeed very interesting, but it's sadly currently vaporware despite years of promises.
 
God Ginrai said:
Aside from the "must run debian" thing, you basically just described features that the Neo900 provides. It even has a front-facing camera. I'm not trying to turn you away from the Pyra, since obviously more pre-orders means happier EvilDragon, which will likely mean happier users. I'm just making sure you are aware.
Click to expand...

Thank you for this hint! The Neo900 is a very interesting project indeed. It runs free software from bottom to top, so that's fine, even if it is not Debian :~) The keyboard is probably not as good as the Pyra ones and the price is much higher. I will definitely follow both projects closer now. (And would buy both devices, if I had too much money to spend.)
 
I've more or less decided to get the Pyra instead of the Neo900, there's just no communication from that project any more :/

I've been waiting too long for it, and if it ever happens now, the underpowered CPU and 1GB RAM could be obsolete.

And I rarely use a phone to make calls, mostly just text, which the Pyra's bigger screen and keyboard should make a lot easier, and the expansion ports open so many other possibilities.
 
stevenc99 said:
I've more or less decided to get the Pyra instead of the Neo900, there's just no communication from that project any more :/
Click to expand...
No surprise since PayPal froze their account for a few months without reason thereby effectively stopping the project and since Nikolaus is also working on the Pyra a lot, I wonder whether the Neo900 will survive.
 
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