California's Advanced Red-light Cameras Hit Drivers Where it Hurts

Fines from red-light cameras are a pain. But in California, they really hurt—to the tune of $480.

In a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, residents vented their frustration over the technology, which happens to rake in about $130 million annually for the state and various cities. Meanwhile, intersection accidents have decreased 40 percent since many of the cameras were installed in 2000.

By far, California hands out the most expensive red-light camera tickets in the world, and a group of citizens is hoping to change the system.

The Red Light Camera Protest Group is calling for the elimination of red-light cameras and a reduction in the fine. If not, they say they’ll accept the duration of yellow lights, giving drivers more time to safely get through an intersection or turn right on red. (After all, a recent study in South San Francisco found that 98 percent of its tickets at one red-light camera were for rolling right turns.)

Not surprisingly, police and city officials maintain that red-light cameras make intersections safer for both drivers and pedestrians—even in right-turn-on-red situations.

Even citizens seem to be divided on the issue, the Chronicle reports:

Halfway down the block on 27th from the light, Phuong Nguyen works at MP Flowers and sees the camera light flicker all day. She shook her fist in its direction.

"Three members of my family got tickets at that light in the past month while driving to work," she said. "Lot of money for the government, not such a good idea for the rest of us."

Jessica Lubnieski, 27, lives a few blocks north of the light, though, and says she is grateful for it.

"I walk my dog this route all the time, and people go flying through that light when they turn," she said as she strolled by the intersection with Cooper, her mutt. "They so often don't even see us. I just have to think that camera makes people more careful."

It's a touchy subject. But maybe as technology advances--and these cameras become more adept at detecting vehicular crime--people will become more accepting of them.

In the meantime, consider the numbers:

$480 Current fine for violating a red light in California.

$80 million Paid annually to state.

$50 million Fines paid annually to cities and counties.

$4.2 million Amount generated in 2010 by one camera near the on-ramp to Interstate 980 at 27th Street and Northgate Avenue in Oakland.

A Camera That Makes the Speed of Light Look Slow

What a week for pushing the limits of human knowledge. Not only are we closer to identifying the very particle that explains how the Universe is built -- we also have realized that a camera can break the speed of light.

MIT researchers have created a new imaging system that can acquire visual data at a rate of 1 trillion exposures per second. That’s fast enough to produce a slow-motion(!) video of a burst of light traveling the length of a one-liter bottle, bouncing off the cap and reflecting back to the bottle’s bottom.

Media Lab postdoc Andreas Velten, one of the system’s developers, calls it the “ultimate” in slow motion: “There’s nothing in the universe that looks fast to this camera,” he says.

Check out the incredible video for more.

‘Customizable’ Camera Software to Revolutionize Photography?

The way we use cameras may be about to change—forever, according to MIT't Technology Review website.

New software is making it possible for photographers to reprogram their digital cameras and create images that have previously been impossible.

Researchers at Stanford University created the software, which runs on Nokia N900 phones and will enable a broad range of apps. With certain apps, you can already gain greater control over your N900 phone: capture both light and dark parts of a scene, create extremely sharp photos, even in low light, and automatically stitch panoramic photos together.

Although digital photography has always been constrained by a camera’s manufacturer software, “computational photography” seeks to change all that. With CP, software gives the user more control over the camera’s components. This type of work has seen some modest success with traditional digital cameras, including Stanford's "Frankencamera." But now, smart phone cameras are opening up even greater possibilities.

The images captured using computational photography can be stunning. Now, cameras can shoot a series of images at focuses, then combine them to make a single image in which objects at any distance appear sharp.

The View From Above: In Hard Focus Round-up (July 21, 2011)

Not your average action figure: According to TechCrunch, Japanese company SoftEther has created a means for people to translate real world motion into 3D graphics by means of a motion-capture device nicknamed Quma. The device, which looks like a high-tech action figure, has sensors that translate physical motions to online actions. Check out the video above for a demo of Quma.

Model in focus: Lytro, the revolutionary camera and technology that we’ve covered before on In Hard Focus, blogged about its “First Light Field Supermodel.” Check out the post to play around with the photos and be your own fashion photographer!

Heathrow Airport now using facial recognition technology: The Guardian reported that London's Heathrow Airport is now rolling out facial recognition technology to verify airline passengers and prevent domestic/international ticket swaps in terminals. Heathrow has been using technology to process passengers since 2008, however this new implementation will sync with Aurora Imaging Recognition (AIR) and allow security to track an individual's location anywhere in the terminals.

The View From Above: In Hard Focus Round-Up (July 15, 2011)

Photofly Brings 3-D Models to the Masses: According to the New York Times, Autodesk's Photofly is turning thousands of digital photos into 3D models in seconds. Originally for professionals, they're seeing a ton of adoption by consumers to transform pictures of battleships, Lego men and crab arms, among others. See above. 

iPhone Camera Apps to Bring out the Best Photographer in You: From the Chicago Sun-Times list of top iPhone apps to take pictures, edit them...and 'synth' them. That last one is definitely intriguing. 

Apple Exploring Augmented Reality for iPad -- New Target for Pickpockets? A patent filing published this week suggests real-time 3D mapping is coming to iPads soon. More details here. May beat using a paper map, a tourist walking around an unknown city with an pricey iPad makes for an awfully easy target for pickpockets.

Court OKs Airport Body Scanners: A Wired piece from earlier today reported that a federal appeals court has declined to block the government from using body scanners in airports nationwide. Might be a good opportunity for all of us to take a another look at Privates.