Lens-Free Camera Focuses on Autonomous Cars, Future Applications

Lens-Free Camera Focuses on Autonomous Cars, Future Applications Lens-Free Camera Focuses on Autonomous Cars, Future Applications Lens-Free Camera Focuses on Autonomous Cars, Future ApplicationsThe camera is ubiquitous. There are billions of them in smartphones, hundreds of millions of them in surveillance cameras, and countless SLRs and point-and-shoots. And they all have one thing in common a lens.If you look at camera, all the lens does is rearrange light so it makes sense to a human being, says Rajesh Menon, a professor of computer engineering at the University of Utah. This information is already entering the aperture. What if we remove the lens?Without the lens, any aperture can be a camera, as long as there is a good algorithm to gesangsknstler the data. Menon has created such an algorithm. With a window, a sensor, and the algorithm, he has built an optics free camera. The technology may turn our windshields into cameras for tomorrows automated cars.For You The Moral Beauty of a Disobedient RobotThe lensless camera springs from work Menon did several years ago converting a surgical needle to a microscope for looking into mice brains.Of course, its not a microscope, its a light pipe, Menon said. The information coming out is all jumbled up.Original LED rufs being photographed (left), and resulting images captured with lensless camera (right). Image University of UtahTo solve the problem, Menon and his colleagues created algorithms that unjumble the information and reconstruct the images.Menon used a similar method to create his lens-free camera. He covered the outside edges of a plate of glass with reflective tape except for one small spot. There he placed a cheap off-the-shelf camera sensor, the same kind used with smart phone cameras, pointing across the rest of the glass. The research paper appeared in the September 3 issue of Optic Express.The light that reaches the edge of the pane would binnenseem randomly scattered to us and appear as nothing but a blur. The right technology, however, can identify a recognizable image from those blurs. Menons algorithm, trained by comparing resolved images against the blur that reaches the sensor, learned how to identify the blurred image. To prove it, Menon set up an LED light board on one side of the plate of glass. When it displayed the U logo of the University of Utah, the lensless camera was able to recognize itand reconstruct it. It also unscrambled a moving image of a stick figure.For the applications Menon has in mind, the image wouldnt need to be reconstructed at all, only understood. The autonomous cars of the future need to make quick decisions, Menon said. Theres no need to have a human in the loop.The images currently being reconstituted by the algorithm include some distortions or artifacts. Menon isnt sure if they are caused by the glass, the sensor, or the algorithm. But he is sure he could increase the signal to noise ratio by installing multiple sensors around the panes edg e, rather than just one.I dont know if well get to a point where youll get the beautiful images you get with an iPhone, but I think we can get pretty close, he said.As it happens, the window itself is not strictly necessary. When Menon tried the experiment with the sensor and open air, the images were degraded but apparent.A lensless camera is suited for many applications. Every window of a car could sense its surroundings, while the windows of a house could become security cameras. The technology also has the potential to improve augmented reality glasses.But theres work to be done before then. Recognizing a simple bright image created by a few LCDs is one thing, reconstructing the complex world outside our windows is another. Menon is confident well get there. He has already made the first step in showing that the lens may soon be archaic in situations where a human neednt see an image.The most fundamental thing to me is that automatic cars are using technology designed for human brainstechnology that has been around for a hundred years, he said. Why not think about imaging from a non-anthropomorphic perspective. It gives you new design freedom.Michael Abrams is an independent writer.Read More Demand for Flying Taxis Lifts Electric Aircraft Market Raspberry Pis Eben Upton on Design and Innovation How Engineers Close Communication Gaps with Non-engineers For Further Discussion The autonomous cars of the future need to make quick decisions. Theres no need to have a human in the loop.Rajesh Menon, University of Utah

These jobs of the future are already popular now

These jobs of the future are already popular nowThese jobs of the future are already popular nowWe already know that automation is changing the job market. Even in a thriving economy, there are career paths that are projected to do better than others in coming years and skills that employers tend to value more and more in an Information Age.It may come as a shock, however, that all of the so-called jobs of the future are already on the rise - even since last year. Recent analysis seems to indicate that the job market is already experiencing changes as new or adapted positions take off.IT services corporation Cognizant created theJobs of the Future datenbankindex to track 45 real jobs and five proxy jobs that are growing or slated to grow in industries that are evolving. In 2018, job openings in this category skyrocketed by 68% - representing a new popularity among these job titles.And though we may be prone to assume everything involving the future is connected to technology, the f astest growing jobs last year were not all in the digital space. Fashion designer actually topped the list, enjoying a 279% growth. Solar engineer, career counselor, social media strategist/specialist, and genetic counselor followed closely behind.The slowest growing jobs, meanwhile, were perhaps just as unexpected. There were more openings for registered nurses, biomedical engineers, solar installers, home health aides, and aerospace engineers in 2018, but those increases were modest compared to in other jobs.All job families - algorithms, automation, and AI customer experience environment fitness and wellness healthcare legal and financial services transport and work culture - outperformed their 2017 measures. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in a year of radical change in the workplace, work culture was the fastest growing job family in 2018.There were other job families that fared well - customer experience jobs grew by 99%, and fitness and wellness jobs jumped 74% when comparing four th quarters in 2017 and 2018.Some of these areas of growth are not obvious when up-and-coming jobs are the topic of conversation, fashion may not be the first industry to come to mind. But its interesting to see which job families are on the up-and-up, and hopefully, this means the future of work looks good for those of us who plan to be a part of it.

How to End Your Job Interviews on a High Note

How to End Your Job Interviews on a High NoteHow to End Your Job Interviews on a High Note10You came in prepared, confidently answered every question thrown your way, and maintained composure despite stomach butterflies. Now its time to make one belastung effort to leave the interviewer with a positive impression. Ending job interviews on a high note is a great way to make a lasting impression.Consider these strategies for ending job interviews on a high noteSeize the moment.When an interviewer asks if you have any furtzu sich questions, grab the opportunity. Ask for clarification or further information on a topic previously addressed, and reiterate how your experience fits that need. You also might look at the situation as a chance to bring up an interesting new topic.Questions that show youve read up on the company are a good technique for being remembered, says Vicky Oliver, author of 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions and Live Like a Millionaire (Without Having to Be One). She suggests something like, I was fascinated to read that article in (trade magazine or the Wall Street Journal) about your companys 2015 strategy concerning overseas markets. How does that impact the New York office? Are the employees fired up about the new strategy or hesitant to embrace it?The question shows youve done your homework on the company and have extrapolated about the impact of the berichterstattung. Its not making any assumptions about the article- what youve read may or may not be accurate. But youve gone deeply into the news about the company, and now youre teasing out how the news may or may not impact morale.Ask a bold question.If the interview has been a solid two-way conversation and youre stumped on what to ask when all the important points were covered, you might try this unconventional move suggested by Linda Matias, owner of CareerStrides and author of 201 Knockout Answers to Tough Interview Questions. Ask, Can you think of a reason I wont be extended a job offer?Its a gutsy question, for sure, but it does open the conversation, Matias notes. It allows the interviewer to express concerns and gives the candidate an opportunity to address those concerns and remove any doubt.Demonstrate interest.Just as you are curious about the interviewers perception of you, the employer wants to know how you feel about the company and position now that youve had the opportunity to learn more. Do you still feel youre a good match? Do you want the job? If so, leave no doubt by closing with a remark such as This meeting has left me really excited about the chance to contribute to (Company X), and I hope you will select me.Further demonstrate your enthusiasm by asking questions about what will happen next in the hiring process. This action also will help keep you from playing guessing games at home as to when you might hear back.Be sure to ask about your next steps, says Oliver. Also, ask for her business card and offer her yours. If she says, I wil l call you in five days, repeat that back to her I look forward to hearing from you in five days. Thank you for meeting with me today.Then, go home knowing youve done all you can.Readers, how do you end job interviews on a high note? Which of the above tips have you used? Share with us below