Infrared Cameras in Space Discovered 17 Lost Pyramids in Egypt

Someone call Indiana Jones.

In one of the greatest archeological discoveries of the century, during a satellite survey of Egypt, scientists at the University of Alabama have discovered 17 lost pyramids and thousands of tombs and ruins.

Called "space archeology," satellites with infrared imaging are able to see such buried settlements less than 1 meter in diameter and not visible with the naked eye.  

In the Future, Movie Theater Screens Watch YOU

Movie theaters are about to get a lot more advanced. In the near future, cameras embedded in theater screens will be watching audiences to gauge how they react to movies and ads. 

I was surprised to learn that many theaters have been watching audiences for years -- but only to ensure that people aren't filming bootleg copies of the movie. In this case, screen cameras simply swept the audience for the tell-tale infrared light of a digital camera. Now, those cameras are going to be transformed into a goldmine of market research for films and advertising. 

Using 3-D face recognition technology, three or more cameras will constantly monitor a crowd of movie-watchers, who are illuminated by an infrared beam. The system will create stereoscopic images, just like the 3-D cameras on the commercial market today.  

Fast Company reports: 

The system should be able to detect a great deal. It will know the direction your face is pointing in, your expression, whether you're shocked by something, whether you're sitting in a family group or on your own, at what point you get bored and so on. This is invaluable data for marketers, who can gauge how well their ad messages are getting across.

Potentially, they could change the ad's placement in the reel between showings to see if they get a better reaction. ... Movie studios [also would] love to get a sense of which scenes to cut, without having to go through the fuss of having audiences fill out surveys.

Mini UAVs Get Even Smarter

Researchers at the University of Tubingen in Germany have developed a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle that can automatically take off from, track and land on a moving carrier vehicle.

Using simple consumer hardware—including a Wii remote infrared camera—the UAV tracks the pattern of four LEDs on the carrier vehicle. It detects its position and orientation by gauging the distortion in the camera image.

The result is an amazingly intelligent—and yet deceptively simple—artificially intelligent mini-helicopter that can always find its way home.