本月初， IMS Research 发布一篇声明稿，质疑若苹果(Apple)及其 iPad 在用户接口的技术发展上，是否已经落后于竞争对手。
这家市场研究公司的论点是：确实，苹果用触控接口改变了游戏规则；但这能代表一切吗？苹果是不是也应该在下一代产品中拥抱嵌入式视觉技术？
所有产业界人士都想知道：在超越触控之后，下一个用户接口的战场在哪里？会是手势、动作或语音？甚至心灵感应──那又是什么玩意儿？
今天，有愈来愈多的 FPGA 、 DSP 和处理器公司，都将未来押注在嵌入式视觉技术上。
而促成此一趋势的主要原因包括：
1. 嵌入式系统中的处理功率不断提升(使用并行处理)；以及
2. 日益复杂的机器视觉算法让嵌入式系统不只要“看”，还必须撷取信息，以进行分析并产生必要的资料。
Berkeley Design Technology, Inc. (BDTI) 总裁 Jeff Bier提到，“由于微软在 Xbox 360 中采用了 Kinect ，现在我们已经能证明嵌入式视觉确实可行。我们现在都能知道它的工作原理了。”
此外，消费者们也越来越熟悉姿势控制；汽车制造商则正在将嵌入式视觉应用整合到汽车中，以实现更安全的汽车驾驶。
IMS Research 首席分析师Jon Cropley指出，智能汽车相机模块市场在2011年达到了3亿美元，预计到2015年，年平均成长率将达到30%。
在此同时，他接着指出，2011年智能型视频监控设备(嵌入式分析设备)市场规模估计为2.5亿美元，预估到2015年的年平均成长率也将超过20%。
而另一个更大的市场，或许会是工业机器视觉硬件，这部份主要产品包括智能传感器、智能相机、精巧型视觉系统，以及机器视觉相机等。Cropley估计2011年该市场约为15亿美元，平均年成长率都超过10%。
然而，从工程角度来看，Bier指出，许多设计工程通常都不会先考虑到视觉技术，因为他们仍然不够了解，不知道能用它开发出什么样的创新应用。
嵌入式视觉其实是一个“经典的长尾理论故事”，Bier说。“在许多不同领域的市场中，已经有成千上万的应用都采用了嵌入式视觉技术。”Bier创立了“嵌入式视觉联盟”(Embedded Vision Alliance)，该联盟旨在激励业界人士使用视觉技术设计嵌入式系统。
《EE Times》和“嵌入式视觉联盟”共同探讨了采用嵌入式视觉技术的最近消费性产品开发现况。透过以下图集，我们希望让更多人了解到嵌入式视觉技术向更广泛领域拓展的可能性。
绝不漏掉任何一个字？
这是 Livescribe 公司的行销口号，该公司开发了一套由数字笔、数字纸张和软件组成的平台。当与数字纸张共同使用时， Livescribe 整合了红外线相机和数字录音机的数字笔可录下使用者的对话，此时使用者还是可以用这只笔在数字纸张上做记录。
Bv5esmc
数字纸上有无数个细小的黑点，基本上人眼无法看见，但笔型相机可检测到。透过电子纸，使用者可重复播放笔记上所记载的部份内容──无论你的涂鸦有多么潦草。没有一个字会漏掉。这真是每记者的梦想；也是政客们的噩梦啊。
本文下一页：手机测酒精浓度
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
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手机测酒精浓度
BreathalEyes 可以用 iPhone 来判定一个人血液中的酒精含量。 BreathalEyes 的原理是扫描使用者的眼睛，来衡量使用者眼球的水平凝视颤动(Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, HGN)情况──即眼球不由自主地抽搐或弹跳。要使用这款 iPhone 版的酒精探测器，只需要用到 iPhone 相机和0.99美元的 BreathalEyes 应用程序就行了。
Bv5esmc
本文下一页：大家都能做视力测试
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
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大家都能做视力测试
EyeNetra 提出了一种任何人都能使用，且快速简便的视力测试方法，可在任何地方做视力测试，透过智能手机得到度数测量结果，并提供眼睛保健信息。
在安装 EyeNetra 的 Netra-G软件后，只要遵照几个简单的指令，就可以在手机上测量度数，并传送给后端的医疗保健平台。
Bv5esmc
本文下一页：免触控用户接口
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
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• 2012消费电子界不可逆转的10 大趋势
• Spansion整合Nuance语音识别技术，提升电子产品反应速度Bv5esmc
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免触控用户接口
由于微软 Kinect 的大受欢迎，手势控制已经成为消费市场上最流行的嵌入式视觉应用之一。
一家以色列公司 eyesight 开发出了专为嵌入式平台定制的先进影像处理和机器视觉算法。该技术独立于底层处理器和摄影镜头，能以最小的CPU功耗执行，而且可嵌入在计算机、平板电脑和移动设备中。
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本文下一页：聪明监控相机──能知道它在看什么
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
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聪明监控相机──能知道它在看什么
Archerfish 开发的视频监控系统能知道它看到了什么。你可以告诉这套系统它应该注意什么，像是你叫的出租车何时抵达，它会在出租车到达时发出通知。透过结合低成本、高功率组件和视频分析功能，这家公司已经开始提供家用视频监控系统。
Bv5esmc
本文下一页：针对售后服务市场的停车辅助相机
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
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针对售后服务市场的停车辅助相机
CogniVue的影像感知处理器和应用软件，让针对售后服务市场的小型后视相机摇身一变成为智能型停车辅助系统。该公司的技术提供了变形、透视校正、对象检测与距离估计等功能，同时可提供多种观看模式，包括全景、自上而下，左/右分离，以及覆盖等。
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本文下一页：用相机检测生命体征
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
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用相机检测生命体征
飞利浦开发的生命体征相机应用程序可执行在 iPad 2 或 iPhone 4S 上。相机可检测到面部颜色的细微变化以测量心率，它也透过追踪胸部的运动情况来测量使用者的呼吸频率。使用者只需要坐在iPad前面就行了。
目前还不知道谁会愿意像飞利浦广告中所建议的，在 Facebook 上或用电子邮件告诉女朋友你的心跳速度，或是其它的生命体征，不过，iPad 2或iPhone 4S已经有能力做到这一点，这是毋庸置疑的。
Bv5esmc
本文下一页：开车怕分心或瞌睡？ 机器能察觉
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
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开车怕分心或瞌睡？机器能察觉
Tobii Technology表示，观察眼睑的运动和凝视的方向，可以在驾驶快要瞌睡，或是完全没注意到道路情况时做出提醒。Tobii公司已经开发出了自有的眼动追踪(eye-tracking)技术。
Tobii 的传感器缓存器和分析器可感测眼睛的位置；眼睑的闭合情况以及眼睑的速率。该公司的眼动追踪技术还能提供眼睛注视和/或头部姿势的分析资料。最重要的是， 它是为所有类型的使用者所设计，无论你是否戴眼镜、任何年龄层、不同人种、各种颜色的眼球等，都能够适用这套产品。
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本文下一页：新一代自动贩卖机
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
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新一代自动贩卖机
英特尔(Intel)、 Okaya Electronics 和 Sanden 提出了一种全新的自动贩卖机概念，这种机器看起来是一个垂直式的65英寸触控HD显示器。透明的显示器能让客户看到贩卖机内部产品，而屏幕则可显示交叠的文字信息、图形和动画。
自动贩卖机具备一个摄影镜头和“观众印象评估”(audience impression metric)功能。自动贩卖机会根据相机拍摄的影像执行面部识别算法。大部份情况下，机器可猜出客户性别和年龄，因而显示适合的广告内容，为客户提供使用者统计等相关资料。
如果你听到它“哎哟！”地叫了一声……是有人踢了它一脚吗？Bv5esmc
本文下一页：Swivel 虚拟更衣室
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
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{pagination}
微软(Microsoft)在2012 CES 中展示了名为 Swivel 的虚拟更衣室。这个虚拟系统设计能让顾客看到衣服和配件实际穿搭在身上的模样。它可以让你看到穿上每件衣服的样子，而且不用排队等试衣间。这个软件也被称作“虚拟变装室！”
Bv5esmc
编译： Joy Teng
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
参考英文原文： Is 'vision' the next-gen must-have user interface?，by Junko Yoshida
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{pagination}
Is 'vision' the next-gen must-have user interface?
Junko Yoshida
Earlier this month, IMS Research (Austin, Texas) issued a press release questioning if Apple and the iPad are falling behind competitors in user interface technologies.
The point of the research company’s commentary, to paraphrase, was: Sure, Apple has changed the game by bringing touch-screen interaction to the masses; but is that all? Shouldn’t Apple be also embracing embedded vision technologies in the next product release?
The industry still wants to know: Where will the battle lines be drawn for the next-generation user interface – beyond touch. Will it be gesture, motion, or voice? What about mental telepathy?
A growing number of FPGA, DSP and processor companies are now betting the future on embedded vision.
Contributing to this movement are: a) the growing processing power (using parallelism) in embedded systems, and b) increasingly sophisticated machine-vision algorithms that let embedded systems not just see but extract information to produce necessary intelligence.
Jeff Bier, president of Berkeley Design Technology, Inc., said, “Thanks to Microsoft’s Kinect (used in Xbox 360), we now have ‘existence proof’ for embedded vision. We now know it works.”
Consumers, moreover, are becoming more familiar with gesture controls, and automotive manufacturers are integrating embedded-vision applications in cars in the cause of driver safety.
Jon Cropley, principal analyst at IMS Research said the market for intelligent automotive camera modules alone was estimated at around $300 million in 2011 and is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of over 30% to 2015.
Meanwhile, the market for intelligent video surveillance devices (devices with embedded analytics) was estimated at about $250 million in 2011 and is forecast for annual growth to 2015 of more than 20%, he added.
Biggest and perhaps most established is the market for industrial machine vision hardware (smart sensors, smart cameras, compact vision systems, and machine vision cameras). Cropley's estimate is around $1.5 billion in 2011 with an average annual rate over 10%.
But from the engineering community’s standpoint, Bier said, “Many design engineers, generally, just don’t think about vision, and they still don’t know what’s possible.”
Embedded vision is in fact a “classic long-tail story,” Bier said. “There are thousands of applications; and its market is extremely diverse.” Bier founded Embedded Vision Alliance, an industry association set up to inspire and empower embedded system designers to use vision technology.
Working with the Embedded Vision Alliance, EE Times put together an image gallery that showcases the latest embedded vision-enabled consumer products.
Never miss a word?
That’s a marketing tagline used by Livescribe, a company that developed a platform consisting of a digital pen, digital paper and software apps.When used with digital paper, Livescribe’s pen -- integrated with an infrared camera and a digital audio recorder -- records a conversation while one participant takes notes on digital paper.
Digital paper consists of numerous small black dots in patterns essentially invisible to the human eye, but detectable by the pen’s camera. It allows a user to replay portions of a recording by tapping on the notes – no matter how messy the scribble. Not a single word is lost. A reporter’s dream; a politician's
nightmare.
Breathalyzer on your phone
BreathalEyes determines one’s blood alcohol content using an iPhone. BreathalEyes works by scanning the user’s eyes to measure the presence of Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) -- an involuntary jerking or bouncing of the eyeball. For this iPhone-turned-breathalyzer, all you need is an iPhone’s camera and a 99-cent BreathalEyes app running on the phone.
Eye test, anyone?
EyeNetra has come up with a quick and easy way for anyone, anywhere to take an eye test, get measurements for eyeglasses, and access eye care -- all through a smart phone.
Shown above, snap a hardware adapter onto a smartphone loaded with EyeNetra’s software, Netra-G. By following simple instructions, you get measurements for eyeglasses on the phone, and send it to your care provider.
Touch-free user interface
Thanks to the success of Microsoft’s Kinect, gesture control has become one of the most popular embedded vision applications on the consumer market.
Israel-based eyeSight has come up with advanced image processing and machine vision algorithms tailored for embedded platforms. The technology, independent of the underlying processor and camera, can run on minimal CPU and power consumption; it can be embedded in computers, tablets, and mobile devices.
Video surveillance camera that knows what it’s watching
Archerfish developed a video surveillance system that understands what it sees. You can tell it what to watch for – like the expected arrival of a taxi. It issues an alert for you as soon as it happens. By combining low-cost, high-power components with video analytics, the company offers a mass-market home surveillance system.
After-market park assist camera
CogniVue’s Image Cognition Processor and application software turn a small after-market rear-view camera into a smart parking assistant. The technology offers de-warping, perspective correction, object detection and distance estimation, while allowing multiple viewing modes (panoramic, top-down view and left/right split views), and overlay.
Vital Signs Camera
Philips developed a Vital Signs Camera app that runs on iPad 2 or iPhone 4S. The camera detects subtle changes in facial color to measure heart rate, while it also tracks chest movements to measure your breathing rate. The user merely sits still in front of an iPad.
It’s not clear who actually wants to post one’s vital signs on Facebook or e-mail heart rate readings to his girlfriend (as a Philips demo video suggests), but the capability is there, thanks to iPad 2 or iPhone 4S.
Detect driver distraction and drowsiness
Eyelid movements and the direction of gaze are said to be highly reliable measures to warn drivers of an uncontrolled sleep onset or critical lack of attention to the road, according to Tobii Technology, a company that developed its own eye-tracking technology.
Tobii’s sensor registers and analyzes: presence and position of the eyes; eyelid closure; and velocity of the eyelid. The company’s eye-tracking technology can also provide analytics on eye gaze and/or head pose data. Most important, it's designed to operate on virtually all people regardless of glasses, lenses, age, ethnic origin, eye color and other variations on the physiology of the eye.
Next-generation vending machine will size you up
Intel, Okaya Electronics, and Sanden have developed a new “concept” vending machine featuring a vertically-mounted 65-inch see-through, touch-screen HD display. The transparent display allows customers to see products inside the vending machine, while the screen can show overlaid text messages, graphics and animation.
The vending machine comes with a camera and “audience impression metric” features. Based on the image captured by the camera, the vending machine runs anonymous facial recognition algorithms. The machine can take a good guess at a customer’s gender and age so that it can show advertising content to match the customer’s demographics.
But does it say, "Ouch!" when you kick it?
Swivel?
Microsoft demos a virtual dressing room at CES 2012 called Swivel. Designed as the first virtual try-on system, it allows shoppers to see how clothes and accessories look on them in real-time. It can show you how great you look in complete ensembles "without making you go on a barefooted hunt from the fitting room to multiple departments and back,” says Microsoft. Also a great gift for the "virtual cross-dresser!"
责编：Quentin
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