Stanford Photo Scientists are Teaching the Camera New Tricks

Stanford scientists have created an open-source camera that could revolutionize digital photography by giving programmers that chance to design software to teach the device new tricks.

Open-source "Frankencamera" could revolutionize digital photography

Stanford Report, August 31, 2009
Open-source camera could revolutionize digital photography

Stanford scientists' open-source camera could change photography by giving
programmers anywhere the power to change camera features and create new
possibilities.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august31/levoy-opensource-camera-090109.html

[excerpt]

Stanford photo scientists are out to reinvent digital photography with the
introduction of an open-source digital camera, which will give programmers
around the world the chance to create software that will teach cameras new
tricks.

If the technology catches on, camera performance will be no longer be
limited by the software that comes pre-installed by the manufacturer.
Virtually all the features of the Stanford camera – focus, exposure,
shutter speed, flash, etc. – are at the command of software that can be
created by inspired programmers anywhere. "The premise of the project is
to build a camera that is open source," said computer science professor
Marc Levoy.

Computer science graduate student Andrew Adams, who helped design the
prototype of the Stanford camera (dubbed Frankencamera,)
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/camera-2.0/
imagines a future where consumers download applications to their
open-platform cameras the way Apple apps are downloaded to iPhones today.
When the camera's operating software is made available publicly, perhaps a
year from now, users will be able to continuously improve it, along the
open-source model of the Linux operating system for computers or the
Mozilla Firefox web browser.