
Identifiable Images of Bystanders Extracted from Corneal Reflections (2013) - officialjunk
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0083325&
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gknoy
"... from approximately 1 m using a ... 39 megapixel digital camera ... with
120 mm macro lens"

Good news: At least we can still trust that normaly surveillance cameras won't
have the kind of resolution to perform this feat.

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boxey
... with 2x Bowens DX1000 1kW flash lamps with dish reflectors to illuminate
the bystanders at a distance of 1 meter.

That's ridiculous. Why is this even published?

~~~
hvidgaard
The point is that the information is clearly there, and with current
technology it is possible to extract it under ideal circumstances. It's not to
say it's feasible or will be, but it's not hard to imagine sensors becoming
advanced enough to capture the required light without using a special lens and
artificially illuminate the bystanders.

~~~
boxey
Wrong, current image sensors have around ~50% quantum efficiency nowadays. [1]
That's 1 f-stop from the theoretical maximum, while they're pushing around 10
f-stops above the top-of-the-line mobile phone cam / security cam.

The pace of technology is still limited by physics - if they take out the 2kW
monster flash then the lens size needs to be increased to a diameter of
several meters, just to maintain the same performance at a distance of 1 meter
(!).

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_efficiency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_efficiency)

~~~
aeturnum
You're missing the point. This is not a paper on image acquisition, it is a
paper on image processing. Because they began from scratch, they used very
favorable image conditions. They are not pushing the idea that their capture
format is representative of an application.

We have no idea how hard it would be to recover an image using 50-5% of the
light. No one has written that paper. Same for resolution. The paper does not
claim to address that question so it seems silly to critique it for not doing
so.

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hobbes78
As expected, mainstream media reports this as:

'Zoom and enhance': A much-mocked CSI trope becomes reality

[http://theweek.com/article/index/254848/zoom-and-enhance-
a-m...](http://theweek.com/article/index/254848/zoom-and-enhance-a-much-
mocked-csi-trope-becomes-reality)

~~~
dmix
As annoying as that is I'm still comforted by the reminder of the (plausible)
Blade Runner scene and the thought of how much I like that film - and it's
never ending relevancy.

~~~
pwr22
Doesn't Deckard actually shift the angle the picture is taken from.....

~~~
drzaiusapelord
I still don't know what happens in that scene, which is strange for a movie
with such heavy handed exposition; even the version without narration.

GET IT - SHES A REPLICANT! SO IS HE AND HER AND HIM! OH THE OWL IS FAKE. DID I
MENTION THE OWL YET? ITS FAKE!

Yet a weird 6 minute sequence with a photo editor just goes unexplained. He
magically sees something we don't using technology that isn't remotely
explained.

~~~
AgentIcarus
I always thought the point was that he spots a ... tattoo? Of a snake? That
reminds him of the club? Or the dancer... I'm going to have to watch it again
aren't I?

~~~
dmix
Yes in the 3 minute scene there were multiple indications from the picture to
indicate: Chinatown (food/texts), the girls outfit (being a dancer), and an
identifying tattoo. Which would point to only a few dance clubs in the city.

It was also a connection to the artificial snake scale being found in the bath
tub that happened to be rare and only created by a few possible engineers.
Engineers who work on robotics. One Chinatown engineer happened to be employed
by the people he was looking for, who were robots in need of an engineer...

Not a far fetched connection by Hollywood's standards.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHepKd38pr0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHepKd38pr0)

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rokhayakebe
Tell HN: When submitting scientific research it would be very helpful to
consider that some people do not readily understand the abstract and the
importance of the findings. A brief description in laymen's terms would be
appreciated.

~~~
zxcdw
I don't know why this was downvoted. I find it relevant for submissions like
this, that there are people voicing that they'd appreciate ELI5-like summary
which I don't think is hard to reason for, nor can I see how it could be a
problem if someone provided one.

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soupboy
For one of the first projects of this type (from 2006) see
[http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/world_eye/](http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/world_eye/).

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ColinWright
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6970772](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6970772)
<\- Discussion

Other submissions:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6971753](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6971753)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6974543](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6974543)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6981938](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6981938)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7036296](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7036296)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7091655](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7091655)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8826340](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8826340)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8839516](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8839516)

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zan2434
I wonder if this concept (corneal reflection photography) can be used for an
eye-tracking interface for computers. Can you match the segment of the image
of the corneal reflection that is above the pupil with what is on the screen
to figure out where/at what the user is looking?

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chrisbennet
It's good to understand what "resolution" actually means when considering
these types of problems. Suppose you have 2 dots close together. The ability
of your camera to "see" (resolve) 2 dots as opposed to a single blob is a
function of the sensor and the lens.

All the sensor resulution in the world is not going to let you resolve
something if the lens has already blurred the image.

While sensors have become relatively cheap, optics have not. I think physics
alone makes it impossible to have a camera phone lens that resolves anywhere
near what these XX megapixel image sensors could theoritically resolve.

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Brajeshwar
I hope I can tuck in this video as a gentle reminder of what we wishes we can
do. Now that we are pretty much there.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxq9yj2pVWk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxq9yj2pVWk)

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mleonhard
I wish they provided one of the original source photos.

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smmnyc
Reminds me of the first episode of Twin Peaks where there is reflection of key
evidence in the eyes of a character in a video recording...

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typedweb
Enhance!

Sorry, just had to say that. :)

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nether
it's happening.

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JBiserkov
Received: June 17, 2013 Accepted: November 2, 2013 Published: December 26,
2013

Not complaining or anything. Just noting when the research was done

~~~
dang
Good catch. We added the year to the title.

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jlebrech
uncrop

