Frankencamera is open source, runs on Linux

Leonard Goh | Sep 04, 2009

Marc Levoy, professor of Computer Science and of Electrical Engineering, said: "The premise of the project is to build a camera that is open source." On his right is graduate student Andrew Adams with the open-source camera. (Credit: L.A. Cicero/Stanford University)

Photo scientists at Stanford University have conceived what is probably the world's first open-source camera. Their contraption, dubbed the Frankencamera, consists of a Nokia N95 mobile phone camera module, circuit board, a couple of lenses from Canon and Linux for all the open-source goodness.

Now, you may be wondering what's the big deal is about having an open-source operating system on cameras. Well, it means programmers can create algorithms to process images differently or even better what brands such as Canon and Nikon are currently offering. An open-source platform will also give savvy users a wide range of customization option. For instance, photojournalists can program their dSLRs to activate certain settings when a particular lens or accessory is attached.

For now, the scientists have tweaked their Frankencamera to snap high dynamic range pictures, but they are in the midst of trying to make their snapper churn out better-quality videos by using high-resolution pictures. They expect to launch the open-source operating system next year. Check out the video for more details.

Via 1001noisycameras

Filed under: Digital Cameras
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xoddam

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xoddam says...
This is definitely not the first open-source camera.
AXIS has made cameras with a fully open-source software stack for a decade.
Elphel ( www3.elphel.com ) even has fully GPL'd hardware.

But carry on, guys, it's just for fun.

Sep 07, 2009 10:31