Created by Omron, the SmileScan system is designed to automatically detect the intensity of ones smile and report back on the overall quality of the facial expression. The technology monitors the corners of your mouth, how open your eyes are and other facial characteristics to boil down your smile to a score between 0 (Yellow Angry Bird) and 100 (Teri Hatcher). It even has a “smile training mode” to try and help you improve your expression.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

At first, I thought this might be useful for making digital cameras that only snap pictures once subjects are smiling, and they say it could be used for rehabilitation too. But I’m betting since the system was shown at Japan’s International Hotel and Restaurant Show, that it’s really designed for some sadistic blue suits who want to make sure their employees aren’t frowning on the job. Oh joy. Just what we need – corporate smile enforcement. That just makes me frown.

[via DigInfo.TV]

But who says we can’t have galleries and exhibits filled with non-existent spaceships? Armed with his imagination, his camera and the magical Photoshop, George depicted scenes of the fictional location of the Sci-Fi Airshow, filled with people and of course the spaceships. Here’s a sampling of slides from the Sci-Fi Airshow’s guided tour:

But the ultimate proof of George’s nerdery is that he actually writes a page’s worth of fake histories for each of the spaceships in the Sci-Fi Airshow, even making up mock-posters or pictures of crash sites to support the text. So let’s visit the Sci-Fi Airshow! Admission is free. Touching the spaceships is prohibited, not to mention impossible.

[via Retro Thing]

The secret to the cameras’ slim form is their “mirrorless” construction. But don’t let their size fool you; these cameras are loaded with features. The α NEX series have two models – The NEX-3 and NEX-5. The NEX-3 is a mere 25.4 mm or about 1-inch thick,  and can shoot video in 720p. The NEX-5 is even thinner at 24.2 mm, can shoot up to 1080p video and has an ultra-light magnesium allow front. Both cameras are armed with Sony’s Exmor CMOS sensor and BIONZ image processors, as well as a 14.2 megapixel picture resolution and a tiltable 3″ LCD screen.

You can pre-order the α NEX cameras at Sony Style. The NEX-3 with a 16mm lens sells for $550 (USD), while one with an 18-55mm lens sells for $600. The NEX-5 with a 16mm lens sells for $650, and a NEX-5 with an 18-55mm lens sells for $700.

[via hypebeast]

Measuring 5″ x 5″ x 2.5″, the Instax is a chubby white thing, like a marshmallow or a cloud. It looks friendlier and more playful than most other cameras. The cute camera prints cute pictures too – wallet-sized pics that have the classic thick border popularized by Polaroid. Note that it can only print pictures of that size, so if you want bigger pics then you’re better off with a conventional cameras. Here’s a sample of pics taken and printed on the Instax:

What’s funny is that the Polaroid PoGo actually prints borderless pics, which makes the Instax more of a spiritual successor to the old Polaroid cameras than the PoGo.

The Instax has a wide-angle lens, a built-in flash, and four exposure settings. Basic features, but then again Fuji isn’t marketing this to serious photographers, and a simple feature set helps keep the price down. The large bay at the back of the Instax houses the film cartridge.

Note that I have not used the Instax (or the PoGo), and I don’t know how much it costs to print digital pics where you live, but for me the short & long term costs of the Instax are just way too high. Photojojo is selling the Fuji Instax instant camera for $90 (USD), but if you’re going to get one you might as well go for the camera + film bundle which costs $105, and save yourself $5. As I said earlier, the film costs $20 for a pack of 20 exposures, which I’m sure most people will use up in no time at all.  Three packs of 20 exposures are also available for $55.

[via bltd]

The Vicon Revue was originally called SenseCam. Some of you may have heard of SenseCam before; it was developed by Microsoft Research in Cambridge, UK. Basically it’s a low-res fish eye camera, about the same size as a Post-it notepad, that is worn on a cord around the neck. It automatically takes pictures based on two things: a preset time interval, even as short as once every 5 seconds, and various stimuli, like changes in light or temperature. So when you enter a room for example, the difference in brightness will prompt the camera to snap a picture. Even if you just moved from your living room to the garage. Or if you turn off the lights. Or if you repeatedly cover and expose the light sensor.

It was originally intended for people suffering from Alzheimer’s and other memory-debilitating conditions. Tests have shown that “reviewing SenseCam photos of a significant event every two days for three weeks, the person could remember it substantially better, even after months of not looking at the photos, compared with events that were not reviewed this way or were recorded only in a written diary.” The Vicon Revue will be marketed to researchers at first; a consumer version will follow next year. Here’s a sample shot from the SenseCam:

Can you see it now? People uploading shit like this with their tweets. “OMG I think I saw Steve Jobs is this him <Vicon Revue pic>” “OMG my tummy got 3 mm bigger <Vicon Revue before & after pics>” “OMG!!!! My Vicon took pictures of a cloud shaped like a penis roflcopter I didn’t even see it lololololol <17 Vicon Revue pics of a cloud that looks like anything but a penis>”

The SenseCam takes pictures at 640×480. It has 1GB of internal flash memory, capable of storing more than 30,000 of the low-res pictures. I don’t know if there will be changes in specs, if any, on the Vicon Revue. I think the reason why it’s so expensive despite it’s mediocre imaging capabilities is the myriad of built-in sensors: light-intensity and light-color sensors, a passive infrared (body heat) detector, a temperature sensor, and a multiple-axis accelerometer.

The Vicon Revue that will be sold to researchers will sell for £500 (approx. $820 USD). I’m guessing the consumer version of Vicon Revue will be a bit cheaper, and have at least double the memory. If all goes well, the internet will be flooded with billions of mundane fisheye pics in 2010.

[via New Scientist & Microsoft Research]

Stanford University News runs down the hardware of the open source camera: “…the motherboard, per se, is a Texas Instruments ‘system on a chip’ running Linux with image and general processors and a small LCD screen. The imaging chip is taken from a Nokia N95 cell phone, and the lenses are off-the-shelf Canon lenses, but they are combined with actuators to give the camera its fine-tuned software control. The body is custom made at Stanford.”

Computer science graduate student Andrew Adams – pictured above with Levoy – wants digital camera users to be able to download applications for their cameras, in the same way that we download programs that extend or improve our PCs. Levoy’s team hopes to have the Frankencamera’s operating system released publicly by next year for some crowd-sourcing action.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via PhysOrg]

The ProScope HR is a USB-connected handheld microscope that can capture images and video at a magnification level of up to 400x depending on the lense selected. Still images can be captured at up to QVGA (1280×1024) resolution, while 30fps video can be captured at SXGA (320×240) resolution. If you’re willing to capture fewer frames per second, you can capture moving images at higher resolutions too. You can even capture time lapse videos using the included software.

Software controls allow you to adjust brightness, contrast, hue, saturation and sharpness of your images. Complete systems range from $499 to $1199 USD depending on the lenses and accessories you want.

If that’s too rich for your blood, you might want to check out the $99 ProScopeTV, which features a fixed 200x lens, and lets you feed the signal directly to your video device.

[via Everything USB]