SoftKinetic Announces DepthSense 544 ToF Camera for Mobile Devices

SoftKinetic has recently unveiled DepthSense 544 3D depth sensing ToF camera for mobile devices, which they claim is the world’s smallest ToF camera, with the “highest level of efficiency available on the market, perfect for small form factors such as smartphones and wearables”. That’s all nice, but what does ToF mean? ToF stands for Time of Flight, and ToF cameras calculate the distance by measuring the time the light signal travels between the camera and the object as explained by Wikipedia: A time-of-flight camera (ToF camera) is a range imaging camera system that resolves distance based on the known speed of light, measuring the time-of-flight of a light signal between the camera and the subject for each point of the image. The time-of-flight camera is a class of scannerless LIDAR, in which the entire scene is captured with each laser or light pulse, as opposed to point-by-point with a laser […]

VR SKY CX-V3 Android VR Headset Review – Part 2: GUI, 360° and VR Videos, and Issues

VR SKY CX-V3 is an Android virtual reality headset powered by Allwinner H8vr processor and featuring a 1080p display. I had read VR requires 2K or 4K displays to be useful, but since that’s my very first VR headset, if we don’t count the a Google Cardboard clone as one, I did not mind testing one with a 1920×1080 display, and it ended up being an interesting learning experience. I’ve already shown the hardware with the various buttons, touch interfaces and lenses in the headset, as well as accessories like the charger and headphone in the first part of the review, so today, I’ll go through the interfaces, what works, and mention the issues I had with the device. If you’ve never used a virtual reality headset before, you’ll definitely want to read the user manual, which for once is written in proper English, both for entertainment value, and learn […]

$40 Weeview Eye-Plug USB Dongle Allows You to Record 3D Videos and Photos with Your Smartphone

3D Televisions have not been very successful since their market launch, but with the advance of virtual reality kits, 3D video could make a comeback. If you want to record your own 3D videos, you’d need a 3D camcorder with most models now discontinued. A cheaper and possibly more convenient solution would be to use your smartphone with an extra camera connected to your smartphone’s USB OTG or USB C port, and that’s exactly what Weeview Eye-Plug W9 is doing for around $40 in Taiwan. The app then leverages the rear or front-facing camera (the thing can rotate) of your smartphone, and create a 3D video by combining the two videos from the phone’s camera, and Eye-Plug into a single video. The downside is that resolution is limited to 0.3 MP (VGA) because of the USB 2.0 interface, but an upcoming version with USB type C support will be able […]

Intel RealSense Robotic Development Kit Features Atom x5 UP Board, Realsense R200 Depth Camera

An Intel Developer Forum is currently taking place in Shenzhen, China, which may explains why we have several Intel products announcements targeting developers such as the launch of Quark D2000 development board. Another product for makers and developers is Intel RealSense Robotic Development Kit combining Raspberry Pi like UP Board powered by Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor with Intel RealSense camera (R200) in order to bring 3D / depth vision to robots. UP Board specifications have changed a little as the processor is now Z8350 instead of Z8300, and they now have a version with 4GB RAM used in the kit: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8350 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Burst frequency: 1.92 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics System Memory –  4GB DDR3L-1600 Storage – 32 GB eMMC flash Video Output / Display – HDMI 1.4b, MIPI DSI/eDP interface Audio I/O – HDMI, I2S Connectivity – […]

Intel RealSense Devkit and Lenovo Smartphone to Feature Project Tango 3D Mapping Technology

Project Tango is a project launched in 2014 by Google ATAP that aims at creating 3D map of your environment using 3D motion tracking with depth sensing for tracking your movements in 3D, precise and quick measurements, augmented reality and more. The first Project Tango development kit was a tablet based on Nvidia TegraK1, but Google recently announced that Lenovo planned to launch the first consumer smartphone with the technology. Beside the announcement that there are going to make a phone, the company did not provide many other details so far, but it should feature a screen smaller than 6.5″ and cost less than $500. The main reason Google posted about this before CES 2016 was probably to reach out to developers who can submit the app idea to be features on the first Tango phone by February 16, 2015 with the following materials: Project schedule including milestones for development […]

Zidoo X6 Pro Android TV Box Review

Zidoo X6 Pro is a 64-bit ARM Android TV Boxes  based on Rockchip RK3368 processor, promising support for HDMI 2.0 and video decoding up to 4K2K @ 60Hz. While the others I’ve tried so far, such as Beelink i68,  are pre-loaded with some version of Kodi 14.2, X6 Pro comes with a modified version of Kodi 15.1. I published pictures of the Zidoo X6 Pro TV box and board a few days ago, and today I’ll review the box’ features, performance, and capabilities. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I’ve connected a USB hard drive to one of the two USB ports, as well as a USB hub with two RF dongles for Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad and MeLE F10 Deluxe air mouse, a USB keyboard, and a USB webcam. I’ve also inserted an Ethernet cable, an HDMI cable, an optical audio cable, a Class 10 micro SD card, as […]

Walabot MIMO Radar Board Can See Through Walls Thanks to Vayyar 3D Imaging Sensors

A few days ago, I wrote about Orbbec Astra 3D camera that can analyze distance and depth to form a 3D image of object. However, this solution uses an IR sensors, and while it can fulfill the needs of many application it does not allow to see through object, and that’s exactly what Walabot wideband MIMO radar board promises to do thanks to Vayyar 3D imaging sensor and a dozen of RF antennas. Some of the key features and preliminary specifications of Walabot board include: Vayyar VYYR2401 3D imaging sensor 12 (or is it 14?) non-contact antennas array system based on “Octopus A3 System on chip” Build in Tx/Rx linear polarized wide-band antennas from 3-10Ghz. On-board Cypress FX3 controller for communication and pre-processing EEPROM (for inventory and calibration information) Walabot interface connectors: Micro-USB 2.0 for high-rate data communication. Option to provide supply from USB. Single supply voltage 4.5-5.5v input for […]

Orbbec Persee Android & Ubuntu Mini PC Comes with a 3D Camera and SDK (Crowdfunding)

Orbbec is a startup working on 3D cameras which can be used for gesture recognition, 3D scanning, research purpose, and more. The company has now embedded their Astra 3D sensor into an ARM based mini PC running Android and/or Ubuntu which they call Orbbec Persee. Persee hardware specifications: SoC – Quad core Cortex A17 processor up to 1.8GHz with a Mali-T7xx GPU @ 600 MHz (They did not name it, but it must be Rockchip RK3288) System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, 1x micro SD card slot up to 64GB Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 Audio Input – 2x microphones Camera – Built-in Astra Pro 3D camera RGB image size – 1280×720 @ 30 fps (UVC support) Depth image size – 640×480 @ 30 fps (16-bit) Range – 0.4 to 8 meters Depth accuracy – 0.5 centimeters at 2 meters Field of view – […]

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