Retroreflector
If you’re looking at it from the correct side, the reflection will always be centered on your eye or, in the case of photographs, on the lens of the camera.
Imaging
Amazingly well-timed photos of ISS silhouetted against moon, sun
Both these remarkable shots were captured from the ground by French astrophotographer Thierry Legault.
The first, showing the ISS passing in front of the full moon, was taken from Avranches, France, at 21:34 UTC on December 20, 2010. The space station, of course, is much closer to the camera than the moon is, and is moving at 7.5 km/s relative to the ground, the upshot of which is that this photograph was only possible for the 0.55 seconds it took the ISS to pass in front of the moon. Monsieur Legault knew that, in advance, planned for it, and got the shot.
The second, even more remarkable photograph, shows a double partial eclipse of the sun, most obviously by the moon, to lower left, but also, again, by the ISS. The small dark spot to lower right is a sun spot larger than the Earth itself. This photograph was only possible for a 0.86 second window at 9:09 UTC on on January 4th, 2011, from Muscat, Oman. Again, Legault carefully planned for that moment, traveled to Oman, and got the shot.
M. Legault’s website is absolutely chock-a-block with stunning astrophotography and is well worth the click. Just be prepared to spend some time gawking. [via Neatorama]
Digital message in a bottle
In this interactive narrative piece by a group of ITP students, Message in a Bottle uses a creative method of engaging the viewer: The viewer is presented with a simple glass bottle and a plank of wood. Five distinct quotes surround five separate areas of the wooden platform. Upon being picked up and moved across […]
Kinect 3D holographic video chat
Kinect hacker Oliver Kreylos and pals are using a couple of Microsoft Kinect 3D game controllers and custom software to enable 3D holographic video chat. Their setup differs from traditional 3D video in that the participant is captured and mapped in real-time allowing others to view them from any angle in 3D. One fortuitous outcome of this experiment is the ability to clearly identify the line of sight of the other participant.
OpenKinect-powered virtual floor piano
Or desk piano, for that matter. No actual keyboard required. Gotta say, choosing Thelonious Monk or whomever that is riffing away on the soundtrack is a bit disingenuous, as the virtual keyboards shown in the infrared footage don’t even have semitone keys. According to YouTuber petermmoz’s first comment, however, the software does actually include the “black” keys; they’ve just turned them off to make it easier for beginners to play. [via Boing Boing]
How-To: EyeWriter 2.0
Zach Lieberman writes: The EyeWriter is a low-cost eye-tracking apparatus + custom software that allows graffiti writers and artists with paralysis resulting from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis to draw using only their eyes. The original design featured a pair of glasses as the basis for the eyewriter design. Since that first video, we’ve been hacking on […]
Rotisserie motor time-lapse motion control unit
Usually when you see a time-lapse sequence the camera is stationary. Adding camera motion to a time lapse-shot adds noticeable depth to a scene. Maker Derek Mellott built this motion control unit for his DSLR from a cable management tray, BBQ rotisserie motor, and TI graphing calculator.
