Engineers, lab scientists, and medical workers who must view magnified 3D images produced with two different cameras for long periods of time typically suffer from eye fatigue and other discomfort. A single-lens 3D microscope imaging system aims to eliminate that.
A lot of 3D video, especially in industrial machine vision, is created with two different cameras, because this system is less expensive, easier to set up, or both. Multiple 2D cameras are positioned around objects on an assembly line and synchronized with triggering devices, producing stereo images. But viewing 3D images produced with two cameras gives many people eye problems and headaches, because parallax prevents the images from aligning perfectly.
A single-lens 3D microscope imaging system aims to eliminate the eye fatigue and typical discomfort suffered by engineers performing industrial inspection by improving the alignment of stereo 2D images. (Source: Toshiba Imaging Systems)
ISee3D has invented single-lens/single-camera 3D technology for improving stereoscopic 3D vision. It has formed a partnership with Toshiba Imaging, which is known for its CCD image sensors that produce high-quality, high-definition color video. These sensors are still used in high-end applications such as machine vision and are different from the somewhat lower-quality, high-volume, less expensive CMOS sensors in cellphone cameras and laptops.
The ISee3D single-camera microscope digital video system produces carefully aligned, perfectly matched images. The fact that the system can project those images on a high-definition monitor makes the viewing of 3D images even easier. The two companies displayed the microscope/monitor imaging system recently at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver.
I didn't realize that eye fatigue was an issue with microscopes, though I guess it should be obvious since it is when reading web sites. On the technical side, it's interesting how CCD and other pieces of critical imaging technology (i.e., where the image is captured/light converted to intensity and color levels etc) is becoming, well, not exactly commoditized, but more affordable. And that's moving it out into a wider range of applications, as we're seeing with the explosion of 3D machine vision.
Alex, you could just try a bigger font in your browser. As for your observation on the cost coming down bringing more applications, that is the one truism of the electronics age. Sometimes I wonder at manufacturers that price their products high at the begining to recover cost quickly while also raising venture capital. They would be better off pricing low from the begining to get volumes up quickly.
Ann, it sounds like there is some kind of optical device in the image path, something like the opposite of an image stabalizer, that selects one of two paths thru the optics? Is this correct? Any other details available?
naperlou, I've tried increasing the font size in my browser, but on lots of web pages that are designed for wide monitors, that makes half of what I'm trying to read inaccessible, especially on a laptop.
Regarding prices, the whole economics of volume manufacturing means that per-unit costs are a lot higher with a small number of initial products than they are later when volumes have risen and manufacturers can amortize parts, labor and overhead. So manufacturers don't have a choice to lower prices initially without risking going out of business before volumes go up. They also don't have such a choice if they are funded by venture capital, which always comes with some pretty strict strings attached.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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