World's highest resolution video surveillance (1.8 gigapixel) platform by DARPA

[Operator]

1 million terabytes a day saved forever.

The ARGUS array is made up of several cameras and other types of imaging systems. The output of the imaging system is used to create extremely large, 1.8GP high-resolution mosaic images and video.

The U.S. Army, along with
Boeing, has developed and is preparing to deploy a new unmanned aircraft
called the “Hummingbird.” It’s is a VTOL-UAS (vertical take-off and
landing unmanned aerial system). Three of them are being deployed to
Afghanistan for a full year to survey and spy on Afghanistan from an
altitude of 20,000 feet with the ability to scan 25 square miles of
ground surface.


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e95_1359267780

He's proud on what he has achieved. I wonder if he realizes what will come of this.

[ljwheat]

Machu Picchu - 16 Gigapixels

http://www.gigapixelperu.com/Machu_Picchu_16_Gigapixels/Welcome.html

About The Image
The picture was made with the Canon 7D and a 400mm lens. It consists of 1920 pictures with 18 megapixel, which was recorded by a photo-robot in 1 hour and 44 minutes.


With a resolution of 297,500 x 87,500 pixel (15.9 gigapixels) the picture is the highest resolution photo of Machu Picchu ever taken.


Image stitching was done on a MacPro Hexacore 2.67Ghz, 32GB Ram and OCZ 960GB RevoDrive


Render time was 1.5hrs.

People who made this happen:

Jeff Cremer

Photographer

Visit me in the Peruvian Amazon: Perunature.com

Eric Hanson

Xrez.com


Susan Kunkle Thesing

Gigapan.com


Paul Heckbert

Carnegie Mellon University

Destin Sandlin

Smarter Every Day


Gordon McGladdery

Sound Engineer - A Shell In The Pit


Our Favorite Links:

•www.perunature.com


•www.xrez.com


•www.gigapan.com


•www.fertur-travel.com

Machu Picchu 16 Gigapixels
Images: 1920 .CR2 images


Capture Time: 1hr 44min


Size: 297,500 x 87,500 pixels


Camera: Canon 7D


Aperture: f/10


Shutter: 1/640


Focal Length: 645mm


Lens: 100-400mm f/5.6


Mount: Gigapan Epic Pro


Tripod: Gitzo Basalt Explorer
Interview with photographer Jeff Cremer:


Why do you use GigaPan?


I believe that a good photo is one that allows the viewer to see the world in a new way and gigapan does just that. I think that people get more out of the images by being able to explore them and discover things rather than just taking a quick look then moving on to something else.


I also like the way that gigapan combines science and technology to create art. I love computers, technology and technical things, and I also like being creative, when I use gigapan I get to use the creative and analytical sides of my brain at the same time so its really fun!


What inspired you to take this image?


As soon as I purchased my gigapan and brought it back to Peru I knew that Machu Picchu would be a perfect target. I didn't know that it would be such an adventure to take the picture!


What are your favorite parts about the image?


I think that my favorite part of the image is a person standing on top of one of the mountains in the background. Before I explored the image I never even new that it was possible to climb up there.


Did you have any challenges while shooting?


I had a few challenge while shooting. Some of the software that I connect the camera to my computer froze and I had to restart the camera and the software then I had to find exactly where in the image the software froze then back up and reshoot the missed images. If I didn't capture all of the missing images the entire project would have failed.


I also had security guards constantly asking to see my photo permits and some of the tourists blocked my view so I had to pause shooting and wait for them to move.


Stitching such a big image was also a challenge because I only have a laptop. My friend Eric Hanson from Xrez Studios did the stitching for me. Paul Heckbert uploaded the picture for me and Susan Thesing was a great help by coordinating everything with gigapan. Without these people the image would not have been possible.


Any advice or tips you’d like to share with other gigapanners?


I think that gigapanners should go out there and shoot lots of images and upload them to gigapan.com. Gigapan is an amazing source of high-resolution images. I can’t wait to see what future programmers will be able to create using these images.


Are there other images you have taken with GigaPan outside of Peru that you enjoyed taking?


I haven’t really been outside of Peru with my gigapan although I would like to take a really high-resolution shot of the Miami skyline. It has already been done but I think that it just be a fun thing to do.


Was there a specific timeframe (time and season) you chose to take this photo of Machu Picchu?


I took this at the end of the dry season so I wouldn't get rained on. Just as the picture was finishing the clouds moved in.


What do you hope to achieve by taking a gigapixel image of Machu Picchu?


Machu Picchu is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and is often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.


In 2008, the World Monuments Fund placed Machu Picchu on its Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world because of environmental degradation due to tourism.


Beautiful, historical and threatened, I believe that this remarkable site deserved a remarkable photo. I think that this image can help preserve this amazing place and bring more awareness to the site, its history and its endangered state.


Have you had any interesting feedback about the image?


I haven’t shown many people the image but everyone that has seen it likes it. My parents especially like it.


Since many of your images are taken in Peru, what do you love about the country?


I moved to Peru about 6 years ago. I was only going to stay for 2 months then move on but once I started exploring the country I just kept staying and never left. Peru has everything from some of the driest deserts on earth to huge mountains that are over 22,000 ft tall. They also have the amazon rainforest where I work giving photography tours. They also have tons of culture from Quechua and Aymara “campesinos” in the highlands to indigenous tribes in the jungle.


Do you have plans to shoot more gigapixel images in the near future? Where? When?


I love hiking in the mountains so I would like to climb a mountain and take a huge panorama of the Andes. I might do this next year.

[Operator]

Machu Picchu - 16 Gigapixels

http://www.gigapixelperu.com/Machu_Picchu_16_Gigapixels/Welcome.html

About The Image
The picture was made with the Canon 7D and a 400mm lens. It consists of 1920 pictures with 18 megapixel, which was recorded by a photo-robot in 1 hour and 44 minutes.


That's impressive too ... And a very nice picture indeed!

But it is a one time result. The high resolution video surveillance camera however is going
to take live images (i.e. continuously) and store them. They even talk about doing that 24/7.

Allegedly, this technology exists already for years. But now they overtly show it out in the
open for everyone to see and understand what it all means.

I sometimes wonder if they developed things like mobile phone camera's on such a large scale
just to make the technology affordable for these kind of purposes. or in other words one more
example how we paid ourselves for them to spy on us.

[Cidersomerset]

This is 'Big , Big Brother '.....we are evolving into another species 'Homo computor chip'

I think we have already entered 'A Brave Scary New World' !! If the west has this technology
its only a little while before everyone else does and the next step will be to see thru walls !!

On a brighter note the pictures look clearer than google earth judging by
the pictures of Machu Pichu...

VkG8ndMxw-w

[ljwheat]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2269465/The-breathtaking-interactive-view-Dubai-worlds-tallest-building.html#ixzz2JL4Brx5s

The Burj Khalifa, which stands 2,717 feet tall

also check out the sky and all the chem trails.

[toad]

A friend of mine worked on some gigapans , of Paris and the czech, he said after taking a thousand photos or so the lens and sensor get so hot they almost melt. Some amazing work though no doubt.

[778 neighbour of some guy]

Machu Picchu - 16 Gigapixels

http://www.gigapixelperu.com/Machu_P...s/Welcome.html

About The Image
The picture was made with the Canon 7D and a 400mm lens. It consists of 1920 pictures with 18 megapixel, which was recorded by a photo-robot in 1 hour and 44 minutes.


Great image, also funny as hell, when you zoom in on the last towers, the platform just below it, there is a guy in a red/white lumberjack shirt, in front of him a floating a ladies , brown/black hair, head wearing sunglasses, lmao. I have won the one zillion dollar contest. Funny, must have been done on purpose.

[778 neighbour of some guy]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2269465/The-breathtaking-interactive-view-Dubai-worlds-tallest-building.html#ixzz2JL4Brx5s

The Burj Khalifa, which stands 2,717 feet tall

also check out the sky and all the chem trails.

That was amazing, i also noticed there is abolutely no reason whatsoever to go to Dubai, its empty and dusty, damn!!;)

[Fellow Aspirant]

Here's a video of one the BAE engineers giving a tour of the new Argus system, and boasting (rightly so, apparently)of the new cameras' capabilities:

http://www.businessinsider.com/darpa-argus-mega-camera-most-detailed-surveillance-camera-in-world-2013-1#the-bae-systems-engineer-says-that-the-new-system-is-the-next-generation-of-surveillance-1