Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD presented selected visual computing applications, in particular for visualisation and image enhancement, at this year’s Oceanology International in London. The biennial event addresses the research challenges and economic benefits associated with the world’s largest bodies of water. One of the Institute’s exhibits was the SynaptiCam, a smart camera. This embedded system, in combination with one or multiple cameras, makes it possible to recognise, classify and segment objects in real-time. This smart camera is ideal for monitoring and observing underwater situations and combines low power consumption with integration with diverse camera types. The SynaptiCam can be mounted onto an underwater vehicle or installed in a fixed position. Potential applications include observing fish, monitoring and inspecting offshore infrastructure, and documenting diving expeditions. In the past, photographed fish, for example, were simply counted and analysed manually. Now, it is possible to automatically categorise individual species, and to scan fish dimensions in a way that allows estimates to be made of their weight. 3D reconstruction and object recognition are currently in the works.
Contact Daniela Welling, Fraunhofer IGD, daniela.welling@igd.franhofer.de
