6Sight

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CUSTOM PRINTS SPECIAL PHOTO EDITION VIA HP

HP Indigo photo printing lets anyone customize a photographic cover of a special “Your Shot” edition of National Geographic magazine.

The issue features the best photographs from the more than 150,000 images submitted by the public to the Your Shot online feature.

The special edition can feature one’s own photograph on the cover. 

Consolidated Graphics is using its HP Indigo digital presses to produce the covers, which are then bound to copies of the special edition magazine. 

“The pervasiveness of Indigo technology in the printing industry gave us the confidence to approach the cover customization project with HP," says the National Geographic Society.  The project “enables us to engage with photography enthusiasts and general consumers who like the idea of being able to customize the cover with a unique, personal photograph.”

National Geographic’s regular gravure and web offset print service provider produced the body of the issue, as well as a complete newsstand version that does not have a customized cover.

With more than 50 presses, Consolidated Graphics is the largest user of HP Indigos, installing 36 presses at various plants in North America and Europe just last year.

July 27, 2009

NEW HP PUBLISHING MODEL: PRINT ON DEMAND

HP says its print-on-demand technology “makes it possible for readers to customize the content of their books and print them on demand, eliminating costs and paper waste typically associated with traditional book publishing.”

To create a book, a reader answers a few questions, uploads personal photos and text, and hits “publish.” The HP web platform uploads the reader’s customized pages to a designated print service provider, which then prints the book using HP Indigo digital presses. Publishers eliminate the need for large press runs and remove pre-publication costs, HP says. 

With photojournalist Rick Smolan, HP is now offering “The Obama Time Capsule” as its first coffee table book, which can be customized, covering President Barack Obama’s career and first 100 days in office. The photo book merges each buyer’s name, photos and comments with photographs by “leading American photographers and original commentary from noted writers.” The $35 book is exclusively available via Amazon.com.

May 26, 2009

WATCHING THE WATCHERS

The Gebze Institute of Technology in Turkey developed a gaze-tracking camera system that watches the eyes of CCTV operators, reports New Scientist.

Webcams are aimed at the irises of surveillance staff, and the software detects where they look. The system also summarizes which video sequences -- those with detected movement -- the watchers themselves missed during a shift.

April 20, 2009

PHOTO TO 3-D OBJECT

Shapeways is offering a service for making a 3-D object from any photo.

Photoshaper is “a tool that anyone can use to take anything and turn it into a 3-D printed object,” the Netherlands based company says.

The software analyzes the contrast of a picture and creates a depth-layered 3-D object, which is output on a “Rapid Prototyping” 3-D printer.

“The result is similar to a frieze or a bas relief,” the company says, “made of a polycarbonate or acrylic-based photopolymer.” Objects cost $40.00 to $50.00.

March 14, 2009

KIS-KIOSK KICKS OUT PHOTO BOOK IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES

Kiosk Information Systems, Inc. says its new Photobook Maker kiosks, aimed at retail outlets and tourist locations, “are expected to offer a swift return on investment with profit margins up to 50 percent.”

The books are 5.7-by-8.0-inches, and have up to 30 pages with 90 photos printed at 300 dpi.

The Photobook Maker kiosk is billed as the first end-to-customer solution able to create, print, and bind photo albums in minutes. It takes two minutes to lay out photos based on dates and times. Customers choose the photo for the front cover, and enter an album name that is printed on the cover page and spine.

Printing and binding the book takes approximately eight minutes.

All told, one of the more impressive products we saw at the PMA trade show.

March 14, 2009

28-Foot Image Brings Yosemite Valley to 6Sight

A gigapixel image measuring 44 inches high by 28 feet long will be on display at the 6Sight Tech Fair during the 6Sight® Future of Imaging Conference held at the Monterey Conference Center in Monterey, Calif. on November 18-20. The image, created by 20 teams of 50 photographers using 15 Canon G9 cameras shooting during one weekend in Yosemite Valley, is already helping park geologist Greg Stock

examine the effect of recent rock slides and save lives. 

"We're trying to use some of the techniques that have only been used in the entertainment industry and apply them in scientific visualization," said Eric Hanson of xRez Studio, who had previously provided special effects for "Spider-Man," "The Chronicles of Narnia," and a host of other Hollywood blockbusters. "There is a laser in the belly of a plane, and it flies back and forth over the landscape. What you get is a

digital topographic map of the surface that has the precision of a few centimeters. On top of that map, we drape the gigapixel photographic images over digital topographic maps, allowing us to virtually fly

through a near-perfect model of the Yosemite Valley. After a recent rock slide, Stock took pictures of the slide area and compared these to the shots we had made earlier and was able to understand more about the conditions that result in the slides."

Building the Bionic Eye

Rob Spence, a documentarian from Canada, will share his amazing story at the 6Sight® Future of Imaging Conference, where attendees will hear the speaker discussing the real life bionic eye he is making to replace his lost right eye. 

Spence came to see an opportunity in his loss. He is constantly trying to film everything in a unique, high-tech way.

"Eventually, it occurred to me that I could have a high-tech, wireless camera eye to replace the real eye that I lost," he said. "I am close to a working prototype and have a film in development about the whole thing that will be called 'Eye 4 an Eye.'" 

Joe Byrd, president of 6Sight, felt Spence would be an interesting addition to the speaker lineup. 

"Rob seemed like the perfect person to talk about how technology and the human experience are blending more and more," Byrd said. "He is really taking advantage of the small camera technology that is out there and blurring the borders between vision and imaging. Let's face it, it's just plain cool." 

Rob Spence's session, "Artificial Eye," will be held Thursday, November 20 at 3:10 p.m.

Interview with John Larish, contributing editor for Photo Industry Reporter

Today's AIE Imaging Executive podcast looks at the business climate,
             new innovations from photokina

In this episode of the AIE Imaging Executive podcast, Paul Worthington, editor of The Future Image Report, speaks with photo industry veteran John Larish who is a contributing editor for the Photo Industry Reporter. Larish reports on photokina: the business climate, visitors, and some of the most impressive announcements at the show. He also shares two stories from his new books, "The Seat Next To Me," and "From Silver to Silicon."

John will be joining us next month at 6Sight. We hope to see you there as well.

Interview with HP's Glen Hopkins

Glen Hopkins, Vice President and General Manager of Printing Platforms Research & Development at HP, will be speaking at 6Sight next month.

As a warm-up, we've interviewed him for our Imaging Executive podcast.

You can hear the full discussion -- and dozens of other interesting interviews! -- here:

http://www.imagingexec.com