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Realtime nightvision app: True NightVision

P

psonice

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 22, 2005
968
0
**EDIT: App available here: http://itunes.apple.com/app/true-nightvision/id407897439**

**EDIT 2: App updated to 1.5. Many new features and improvements. Scroll down for details!**

Wow, been a while since I last posted on here :D Anyway, I've just finished writing a fun app. It does pretty decent nightvision enhancement, in realtime, using the iphone's camera. It's currently in review ready for the app store.

I did a quick video showing it in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMgiay3fzjo

Works on 3GS and 4 (sorry older iphone owners! If it was possible, I'd do it). It should work well on the ipod touch with camera too, but I don't have hardware to test on (anyone here want to test and have a current-gen touch? Send a PM or let me know here :))

And no, it doesn't work in pitch black. It does work when it's fairly dark, and it works when the built-in camera app shows nothing but blackness.

Usual stuff:
http://twitter.com/#!/interealtime
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Interealtime/167756756598412
http://www.interealtime.com
 
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Cool, let me know how it works out :D

Any takers for testing on the ipod? It's literally 2 minutes work to send me the device ID, another 30 seconds to install the app, then you just need to confirm it's all working well. And you get a free copy of the app :)
 
Tried this out, and its nothing more than a gimmick. It simply switches on your flash as a torch, and then uses a green filter on the screen.
 
Mickyfin said:
Tried this out, and its nothing more than a gimmick. It simply switches on your flash as a torch, and then uses a green filter on the screen.
Click to expand...

You're thinking of some other app ;)

1. My app isn't released yet (hopefully in the next couple of days)

2. It doesn't use the torch AT ALL. The torch stays off. It uses the camera, and uses realtime video enhancement to produce the images.

I know where you're coming from though, I've seen other apps that do nothing more than show the video output with a green overlay and some fancy binoculars picture. Which, yes, is pure gimmick.

**edit** There's some photos + screenshots here: http://gallery.me.com/psonice#100034 You can see in some of the shots that the torch isn't involved. The torch isn't quite powerful enough to light up the sky ;) I'll add more photos soon.
 
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True NightVision available

Good news! True NightVision has finally been approved by Apple, and is now going live on the App Store.

The actual release date is 16th December, so it's currently live in Australia and should be available soon after midnight in other countries.

This should link to the appstore as soon as it's live:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/true-nightvision/id407897439

If you try it, please let me know how it goes! I'll keep tabs on the forum here, or you can contact me via the web/facebook/twitter links above.

I'll post some promo codes a bit later, once it's available in more countries (or the aussies will get them all!)
 
Congrats!

Oh, and regarding my earlier comment, you were indeed correct, your app is nothing like those fake ones, can't wait to get my hands on it. Whats the asking price?
 
Thanks. It's been quite a ride (getting all of this running at full speed at HD res gave me a few major headaches!)

It's set to $2, so €1,59 (is Finland in the euro? I thought it wasn't, but maybe I'm thinking of Norway.. been a few years since I went to Helsinki :))
 
QuarterSwede said:
Would you be willing to share some specifics of how it actually works? I understand if not.

By the way, your RedScreen OS X app is brilliant!
Click to expand...

Thanks :D I'm always amazed at how that redscreen app took off.. I wrote it expecting about 25 people to find a use for it, but it ended up above google earth on apple.com's download charts for a while :eek: If it was a paid app, I'd be a rich man (or more likely sold it to 25 people!)

How it works: I take the raw video stream from the camera, then use the GPU (with openGL) to process the raw data (it does the colour filtering and image enhancement). The enhancement stage basically boosts the dark areas, while trying to preserve the light areas to prevent it getting 'washed out'. It's a bit like the HDR mode on the iphone 4's camera app if you've tried that, where you can see into the shadows without losing the rest of the scene.

That happens in realtime, at 25fps in HD res on iphone 4 or 640x480 on 3GS (it drops down to 15fps in dark scenes to let the camera 'catch more light', and 10fps in 'super mode' where it swaps speed for better quality). The 3G and original iPhones had a fairly weak GPU that can't run this kind of thing unfortunately.
 
psonice said:
Thanks :D I'm always amazed at how that redscreen app took off.. I wrote it expecting about 25 people to find a use for it, but it ended up above google earth on apple.com's download charts for a while :eek: If it was a paid app, I'd be a rich man (or more likely sold it to 25 people!)

How it works: I take the raw video stream from the camera, then use the GPU (with openGL) to process the raw data (it does the colour filtering and image enhancement). The enhancement stage basically boosts the dark areas, while trying to preserve the light areas to prevent it getting 'washed out'. It's a bit like the HDR mode on the iphone 4's camera app if you've tried that, where you can see into the shadows without losing the rest of the scene.

That happens in realtime, at 25fps in HD res on iphone 4 or 640x480 on 3GS (it drops down to 15fps in dark scenes to let the camera 'catch more light', and 10fps in 'super mode' where it swaps speed for better quality). The 3G and original iPhones had a fairly weak GPU that can't run this kind of thing unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Wow, that's cool. Thanks for giving us the geeky details!
 
It should be available on pretty much all app stores now. I'll post some free codes in the next hour or so, in the promo codes thread :)
 
Infrared question

Does the iphone 4 camera support infrared? In other words would infra-red lighting enhance ability to take a picture with your app?

I know most camera's have a filter and several can be converted.
 
No infrared. It does indeed have a filter, otherwise normal photos would look pretty strange!
 
True NightVision V1.5 now available!

The first major update is now available on the app store! (It's a free update of course if you already bought it).

It's quite a major update. New stuff:

- Improved algorithm. Better quality when you turn up enhancement.
- 4 new live effects! Thermal Imaging, Monochrome Shade, False Color, Posterize. These all work with live video, with night vision enhancement, and you can take photos using the effects.
- Much faster photo saving.
- Optional 4x amplification, useful when the normal enhancement isn't quite enough.
- New icon + button graphics

I've posted 5 promo codes here: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=11667303#post11667303 If you're interested in reviewing it, send me a private message and I'll send you a code :)

Comparison shot, standard iphone 4 camera vs. True NightVision:
nightvision_comparison.jpg

Realtime video effects:
nightvision_effects.jpg

App store link: http://itunes.apple.com/app/true-nightvision/id407897439
 
Tried it

I read about the Realtime nightvision app yesterday.
Last night going thru my den I walked into my solid wood table.
Downloaded the app.
It won't work in pitch black, but in ambient light it works pretty good. The actual software DOES work, but the iPhone hardware on 3GS limits your night vision. There are some good filters and effects included. The filters plus enhancement gives good results. It will be interesting to see what the next generation of phone hardware and maybe some updates will do. Well worth the cost. After I showed my wife the app we got it for her also.:D
 
Thanks!

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