Microsoft tests new Hyperlapse video technology

MANILA, Philippines – Microsoft researchers are teasing a new stabilization method for first-person cameras that allow timelapse videos –long videos sped up using editing tools – to have significantly reduced shakiness.

Johannes Kopf, Michael Cohen and Richard Szeliski of Microsoft Research revealed their own version of Hyperlapse video technology– timelapse videos with a smoothly moving camera, or so it seems.

It’s a new way to stabilize video even in timelapse for first-person cameras like the GoPro and Google Glass. The output of this hyperlapse video makes it appear as if the user of the camera is floating along the path made by the camera.

In the video above, you can see how bad footage (like the mountain climbing activity) can still come out smooth, with stitches revealing itself but not too distractingly.

What hyperlapse technology basically does is analyze the footage and create a path that goes through the prominent center of it, stitching and blending images from different frames as necessary.

The team plans to make an app out of this for Windows, aimed at casual users. Such an app would allow for well-done timelapse videos to be made without the need for expensive rigs or power-hungry, high-end software.

View a more technical explanation of the hyperlapse technology below.

– Rappler.com