Video Stabilization Software from SRI Embedded in Google Talk

By Eliane Fiolet on 07/08/2011, filed in Home > CellPhones

Google Talk video chat used while walking by SRI researchers on an Android tablet

Image stabilization is a technology commonly used for digital cameras, but here, we are talking about real-time image stabilization for live video streaming, specifically for video chat services, which requires different algorithms and more computing power. Silicon Valley-based SRI International, a nonprofit research and development organization, is announcing that Google Talk for Android 3.0+ devices integrates its 2D video stabilization software. It is fun to video chat while walking using a tablet, but without video stabilization, picture quality is poor since the transmitted images look shaky – I know, I just tried it with an iPad and Skype, the experience was poor. I will update this article with the test “Video Walk with Google Talk on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ”.

SRI International, (formerly Stanford Research Institute) has been widely recognized worldwide for its disruptive inventions, including the first mouse, invented by Douglas Engelbart in his SRI lab in 1963. The Stanford-based institute is also famous for its robotics and artificial intelligence research, specifically for medical applications, a good example is the da Vinci Surgical System.

For video stabilization, researchers at SRI Sarnoff started to work on the problem in the early 1990s, for security, military, safety and surveillance applications. Ultimately, the patented technology was used to develop the SRI Sarnoff’s Acadia family of vision products.

Video stabilization in video chat in tablets, how it works?

The video is captured by the tablet’s front-facing camera, and the image is compressed before it can be transmitted. Video compression algorithms increase the bandwith used to encode the video with the amount of motion in the scene. Image stabilization before compression enables improved image quality and increases the video compression engine performance of the device simultaneously, since it requires less computing power.

Android: Android is the mobile operating system from Google. The software was originally built by a company called Android Inc, that was purchased by Google in 2005. From its modest debuts, Android has become a powerhouse that powers not only smartphones and tablet, but a host of other less high-profile devices and gadgets. Although Android is not a community-driven project, Google does release the source code as open-source under the Apache license. You can follow Ubergizmo on Android with Google Currents.

About the author: Eliane Fiolet is the co-founder and editor of Ubergizmo.com where she writes about smart devices, web applications, design and usability. In her parallel life, she owns a Corporate ID design business that helps companies create great brands. Prior to opening her own agency, Eliane worked for a top design firm, Minale Tattersfield Design Strategy, where she created identities for Fortune 500 companies. She also worked in the video game industry as a designer for an award-winning adventure game. Eliane holds a master degree in visual communication and design from the “Art Décoratifs” college and she majored in mathematics and physics in high school. Follow the author on Facebook, Twitter

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