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DARPA Developing Scopes That Use Heat Haze to Achieve Super Resolution
Posted by Sean Fallon at 6:10 AM on August 27, 2008
Yes, DARPA does have a reputation for coming up with some seriously far-fetched gadgets, but their Super-Resolution Vision System (SRVS) is not one of them. This project challenges designers to come up with an optics system that utilises heat haze to see further and clearer than ever before. Basically, it takes advantage of an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs whereby images can be magnified for fleeting moments behind the haze.
DARPA hopes that the SRVS technology "will provide 90% accurate facial recognition of a moving individual from 1 km away using a 6 cm lens." That represents a 3-fold improvement over current technology under more favourable conditions. However, the technique does not currently operate in real time, so the goal for researchers is to achieve a refresh rate of one frame per second. A finished product should weigh in at no more than 2 kg with a length of around 35cm and be available to Special Ops units by 2011. For once, I actually believe that might happen. [SRVS via New Scientist]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
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mildretard
Posted 6:58 AM 27/8/08
@Kaveh: @DustyButt: It all boils down to whether one is a prescriptive grammarian or descriptive grammarian. Language was born and will always remain rooted in the relativism of the human experience. Which isn't to say that there aren't social consequences for the way one chooses to write or speak. In other words, nothing's really wrong for the descriptive grammarian, but you're still entitled to recognize douche-baggery.
nazi riting police for teh win!
mildretard
Kaveh
Posted 6:46 AM 27/8/08
@DustyButt: That may have been the case in ye olde tymes, but no longer. Upon further examination of the page you linked me to, I found the following:
[www.merriam-webster.com]
Check out the "Usage" section.
Kaveh
Carmen: Lean Mean A Mans Dream Sex Machine
Posted 6:41 AM 27/8/08
@N@tedog: They don't even belong to him!
@qbrad: OH YEAH..pft he's just as bad.
Carmen: Lean Mean A Mans Dream Sex Machine
gotcheeze5793
Posted 6:35 AM 27/8/08
a darpa product being actually made? really?
gotcheeze5793
qbrad
Posted 6:34 AM 27/8/08
@Carmen: Lean Mean A Mans Dream Sex Machine: I thought you already HAVE a bf!
qbrad
DustyButt
Posted 6:27 AM 27/8/08
@Kaveh: I thought they were interchangable in respect to distance (see definition 1)... [www.merriam-webster.com]
DustyButt
N@tedog
Posted 6:26 AM 27/8/08
@Carmen: Lean Mean A Mans Dream Sex Machine: Jealous much? Just cuz he has sweet binocs doesn't mean he's all that bad.
N@tedog
Carmen: Lean Mean A Mans Dream Sex Machine
Posted 6:21 AM 27/8/08
Fuck Shia...fuck him hard.
Friggin douche.
Carmen: Lean Mean A Mans Dream Sex Machine
Kaveh
Posted 6:17 AM 27/8/08
farther
Kaveh
mildretard
Posted 7:17 AM 27/8/08
@The Lab: That's a negatory. But after reading the Wikipedia entry I confess to being interested enough to pick it up.
mildretard
kirby822
Posted 7:11 AM 27/8/08
@Kaveh: From the page you linked.
"As adverbs they continue to be used interchangeably whenever spatial, temporal, or metaphorical distance is involved"
The divergence of the words is for when there is no notion of distance "But where there is no notion of distance, further is used "
kirby822
DustyButt
Posted 7:05 AM 27/8/08
@mildretard: What can I say... I'm olde school
DustyButt
The Lab
Posted 6:59 AM 27/8/08
@mildretard: I got $10 that says you've read Infinite Jest
The Lab
Mandatory_Field
Posted 9:23 AM 27/8/08
@gotcheeze5793: Ever hear of this little thing called "the Internet"? That's a direct descendent of the Arpanet project. How about the Predator UAV, killing people in far-away places even as we speak. And many, many more....
Mandatory_Field
GadgetPlay
Posted 5:03 PM 27/8/08
Zeppo: "Is there anything further Father?"
Groucho: "Shouldn't that be Father further?"
--Horsefeathers
GadgetPlay
TBM-Fan
Posted 9:57 PM 27/8/08
where can i get some of those scopes? cause they look very handy in my eyes
TBM-Fan
TBM-Fan
Posted 9:56 PM 27/8/08
I don't mind if it is further or farter but i surely want some scopes like that ^-^
TBM-Fan
e2superman
Posted 7:46 AM 27/8/08
little isoplanatic patches are pains in the ass.
e2superman
e2superman
Posted 7:38 AM 27/8/08
..
e2superman
e2superman
Posted 7:35 AM 27/8/08
Without going into too many details (which clearly I can not post) I can say that I was on one of the two teams that competed in Phase One of this program for DARPA. It was a fun project and really allowed us to push some technology in a new direction. Phase one was just a proof of "tech" concept (not a prototype). If Phase Two is awarded (not sure if it actually has or will be) then a prototype could be used then. I think there is great utility in this however it is a difficult problem to achieve this is a small package given the SWP (Size weight power) requirements.
Oh, and you can say hello to the rest of our team. I just forwarded this page to everyone :).
e2superman
Kaveh
Posted 12:44 AM 31/8/08
@kirby822: Maybe it's just me, but "to see further" implies that they improve the sharpness of your vision, allowing you to see clearer, but the phrase was "to see further and clearer." Since clearer already take care of the enhanced QUALITY of the image seen, I have to assume that "further" in this case implies the notion of distance. Ipso facto, further needs to be replaced with farther, per your own admission of the defined usage.
Granted, it's not a hard rule, since as the definition point out, the rift is GROWING (thus not necessarily complete) further can also be used. However, I think farther SHOULD be used in this case because the grammatical movement is progressive. This is a progressive blog. We use one space after periods now in print thanks to the web as well... language evolves, as mildretard points out.
And while I consider myself a descriptive grammarian (thanks for the lesson mildretard, I didn't know there was a distinction to be made in that sense!) at heart, I guess I was just feeling like a smart ass when I wrote my opening argument.
Viva la Revolución Gramático!
(sorry for the off-topic Sean)
Kaveh