The latest issue of New Scientist magazine has revealed details of a new image-analysis system that could detect and eliminate digital photos in which subjects were caught blinking.

 

May 27, 2005: The latest issue of New Scientist magazine has revealed details of a new image-analysis system that could detect and eliminate digital photos in which subjects were caught blinking.
The technology, which has been developed by Masahide Kaneko and colleagues at the University of Electro-Communications in Japan, records 15 frames within half a second of the shutter button being pressed. A microprocessor in the camera analyses each shot, discarding those in which a subject is blinking. The developers claim the system can even detect closed eyes is shots containing up to 30 people and can automatically pick out one with the fewest number of closed eyes. The team hopes to sell the technology to camera manufacturers with the aim of having a commercial version on the market within 2-3 years. It is likely to be offered first in high-end digital cameras that already come with powerful on-board microprocessors and image-processing software.