Tech Universe: Monday 11 July

European Space Agency scientists are constructing a billion-pixel cosmic camera. Photo / ESA

SMART GLASSES: Oxford University in the UK have created an early version of an ordinary looking pair of glasses for people with extremely bad vision. Video cameras at the corners of the specs feed into a tiny pocket computer. The computer then lights up parts of an LED array in the lenses so the wearer can see objects in more detail. The real thing could include optical character recognition for reading newspaper headlines. The OCR sounds good - imagine glasses that could translate languages on the fly. More info here.

SOUND SPACE: Meanwhile Spanish engineers equipped sunglasses with two micro cameras and headphones in a system called EYE 21. The system makes a 3D model of the space the cameras see and represents it with sounds. A blind person can then hear the visual space around them and their brain reconstructs its shape. Shape recognition software could be a help too. Science Daily has more.

POLITE LOOKS: Add a camera and a computer to a pair of glasses and there are all kinds of things you can do. A scientist at the University of Cambridge in the UK is using facial expression analysis to help people recognise the emotions of those they're talking to. A camera and software in a pair of glasses tracks 24 feature points on a face and matches expressions to a database. An earpiece advises the wearer of the findings, while a small light inside the lens provides quick alerts. Findings can also be displayed on a computer screen. In tests the 64% accuracy of the glasses beat out the 54% accuracy of humans. We all know people who could use these glasses. New Scientist has details.

MILLIPIXEL CAMERA: At Cornell University they're making photos without a lens. The camera is a flat piece of doped silicon one 100th of a millimetre thick and half a millimetre on each side. It resolves images about 20 pixels across. It costs only a few cents to make and is incredibly small and light. The camera uses a maths principle called the Fourier transform to create an image. With a bit more sensitivity it could be used for cheap electronic that require only a simple visual system, perhaps for navigation. Follow the light. Cornell's new site has more.

GIGAPIXEL SPACE CAMERA: And to the other extreme: the European Space Agency is constructing the biggest, most sensitive digital camera ever intended for a space mission. The billion-pixel array uses 106 CCDs and will capture images for the Gaia mission to map the galaxy. Each detector measures 4.7x6 cm but is thinner than a human hair. Each CCD is so precisely placed in the mosaic that technicians added only 4 per day during construction. Gaia will orbit the sun 1.5 million Km behind the Earth for a clear view of the stars. There are cameras everywhere you look. More information here.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz