(Press-News.org) SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 27, 2010 – University of Utah computer scientists developed software that quickly edits "extreme resolution imagery" – huge photographs containing billions to hundreds of billions of pixels or dot-like picture elements. Until now, it took hours to process these "gigapixel" images. The new software needs only seconds to produce preview images useful to doctors, intelligence analysts, photographers, artists, engineers and others.
By sampling only a fraction of the pixels in a massive image – for example, a satellite photo or a panorama made of hundreds of individual photos – the software can produce good approximations or previews of what the fully processed image would look like.
That allows someone to interactively edit and analyze massive images – pictures larger than a gigapixel (billion pixels) – in seconds rather than hours, says Valerio Pascucci, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Utah and its Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute.
"You can go anywhere you want in the image," he says. "You can zoom in, go left, right. From your perspective, it is as if the full 'solved' image has been computed."
He compares the photo-editing software with public opinion polling: "You ask a few people and get the answer as if you asked everyone. It's exactly the same thing."
The new software – Visualization Streams for Ultimate Scalability, or ViSUS – allows gigapixel images stored on an external server or drive to be edited from a large computer, a desktop or laptop computer, or even a smart phone, Pascucci says.
"The same software runs very well on an iPhone or a large computer," he adds.
A study describing development of the ViSUS software is scheduled for online publication Saturday, Oct. 30 in the world's pre-eminent computer graphics journal, ACM Transactions on Graphics, published by the Association for Computing Machinery.
The paper calls ViSUS "a simple framework for progressive processing of high-resolution images with minimal resources … [that] for the first time, is capable of handling gigapixel imagery in real time."
Pascucci conducted the research with University of Utah SCI Institute colleagues Brian Summa, a doctoral student in computing; Giorgio Scorzelli, a senior software developer; and Peer-Timo Bremer, a computer scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where co-author Ming Jiang also works.
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. The University of Utah Research Foundation and Lawrence Livermore share a patent on the software, and the researchers plan to start a company to commercialize ViSUS.
From Atlanta to Atlantis – and Stitching Salt Lake City
Pascucci defines massive imagery as images containing more than one gigapixel –which is equal to 100 photos from a 10-megapixel (10 million pixel) digital camera.
In the study, the computer scientists used a number of images ranging in size from megapixels (millions of picture elements) to hundreds of gigapixels to test how well the ViSUS software let them interactively edit large images, and to show how well the software can handle images of various sizes, from small to extremely large.
In one example, they used the software to perform "seamless cloning," which means taking one image and merging it with another image. They combined a 3.7-gigapixel image of the entire Earth with a 116-gigapixel satellite photo of the city of Atlanta, zooming in on the Gulf of Mexico and putting Atlanta underwater there.
"An artist can interactively place a copy of Atlanta under shallow water and recreate the lost city of Atlantis," says the new study, which is titled, "Interactive Editing of Massive Imagery Made Simple: Turning Atlanta into Atlantis."
"It's just a way to demonstrate how an artist can manipulate a huge amount of data in an image without being encumbered by the file size," says Pascucci.
Pascucci, Summa and colleagues also used a camera mounted on a robotic panning device and placed atop a University of Utah building to take 611 photographs during a six-hour period. Together, the photos covered the entire Salt Lake Valley.
At full resolution, it took them four hours to do "panorama stitching," which is stitching the mosaic of photos together into a 3.27-gigapixel panorama of the valley that eliminated the seams between the images and differences in their exposures, says Summa, first author of the study.
But using the ViSUS software, it took only two seconds to create a "global preview" of the entire Salt Lake panorama that looked almost as good – and had a relatively low resolution of only 0.9-megapixels, or only one-3,600th as much data as full-resolution panorama.
And that preview image is interactive, so a photo editor can make different adjustments – such as tint, color intensity and contrast – and see the effects in seconds.
Pascucci says ViSUS' significance is not in creating the preview, but in allowing an editor to zoom in on any part of the low-resolution panorama and quickly see and edit a selected portion of it at full resolution. Older software required the full resolution image to be processed before it could be edited.
Uses for Quick Editing of Big Pictures
Pascucci says the method can be used to edit medical images such as MRI and CT scans – and can do so in three dimensions, even though their study examined only two-dimensional images. "We can handle 2-D and 3-D in the same way," he says.
The software also might lead to more sophisticated computer games. "We are studying the possibility of involving the player in building their own [gaming] environment on the fly," says Pascucci.
The software also will be useful to intelligence analysts examining satellite photos, and researchers using high-resolution microscopes, for example, to study how the eye's light-sensing retina is "wired" by nerves, based on detailed microscopic images.
An intelligence analyst may need to compare two 100-gigabyte satellite photos of the same location but taken at different times – perhaps to learn if aircraft or other military equipment arrived or left that location between the times the photos were taken.
Conventional software to compare the photos must go through all the data in each photo and compare differences – a process that "would take hours. It might be a whole day," Pascucci says. But with ViSUS, "we quickly build an approximation of the difference between the images, and allow the analyst to explore interactively smaller regions of the total image at higher resolution without having to wait."
How it Works: Catching Some Zs
Pascucci says two key parts of the software must work together delicately:
"One is the way we store the images – the order in which we store the pixels on the disk. That is part of the technology being patented" because the storage format "allows you to retrieve the sample of pixels you want really fast."
How the data are processed is the software's second crucial feature. The algorithm – a set of formulas and rules – for processing image data allows the researchers to use only a subset of pixels, which they can move efficiently.
The image processing method can produce previews at various resolutions by taking progressively more and more pixels from the data that make up the entire full-resolution image.
Normally, the amount of memory used in a computer to edit and preview a massive image would have to be large enough to handle the entire data set for that image.
"In our method, the preview has constant size, so it can always fit in memory, even if the fine-resolution data keep growing," Pascucci says.
Data for the full-resolution image is stored on a disk or drive, and ViSUS repeatedly swaps data with the disk as needed for creating new preview images as editing progresses. The software does that very efficiently by pulling more and more data subsets from the full image data in the form of progressively smaller Z-shaped sets of pixels.
Pascucci says ViSUS' major contribution is that "we don't need to read all the data to give you an approximation" of the full image.
If an image contained a terabyte of data – a trillion bytes – the software could produce a good approximation of the image using only one-millionth of the total image data, or about a megabyte, Pascucci says.
The computer scientists now have gone beyond the 116-gigapixel Atlanta image and, in unpublished work, have edited satellite images of multiple cities exceeding 500 gigapixels. The next target: a terapixel image – 1,000 gigapixels or 1 trillion pixels.
INFORMATION:
For more information on the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, see: http://www.sci.utah.edu
For information on the University of Utah College of Engineering, see:
http://www.coe.utah.edu/
University of Utah Public Relations
201 Presidents Circle, Room 308
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-9017
(801) 581-6773 fax: (801) 585-3350
www.unews.utah.edu
Getting the big picture quickly
Software edits huge images in seconds instead of hours
2010-10-27
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Portable breast scanner allows cancer detection in the blink of an eye
2010-10-27
Professor Zhipeng Wu has invented a portable scanner based on radio frequency technology, which is able to show in a second the presence of tumours – malignant and benign – in the breast on a computer.
Using radio frequency or microwave technology for breast cancer detection has been proven by researchers in the US, Canada and UK. However, up to now, it can take a few minutes for an image to be produced, and this had to be done in a hospital or specialist care centre.
Now Professor Wu, from the University's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, says concerned ...
Rosendin Electric Receives Design-Build Merit Award from DBIA for Work on Nogales International Waste Water Treatment Plant
2010-10-27
Rosendin Electric (www.rosendin.com), the nation's largest private electrical contractor and a 100-percent employee-owned company, has been recognized by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) for its contribution to completion of the Nogales International Waste Water Treatment Plant in Rio Rico, Arizona.
At the 2010 Design-Build Conference & Expo held in Las Vegas last week, the DBIA awarded the 2010 Water/Wastewater Over $25 Million Design-Build Merit Award to PCL Construction as the contracting firm, Stantec Engineering as the engineering firm, and Rosendin ...
Pro Energy Consultants' Customer Satisfaction Consistently High
2010-10-27
Pro Energy Consultants, a national energy auditing company, has consistently received high customer satisfaction ratings, the company reported today. Pro Energy, established September 2008, began carefully tracking its customers' satisfaction levels the following year.
"This is attributed to the professionalism of our franchise owners nationwide and the fact that an energy audit really does benefit homeowners in many ways," said Pro Energy Consultants Chief Operations Officer Suave Brachowski, who says the satisfaction rating is currently at 99.8 percent. "After all, ...
Experience Mapping Launches New Website
2010-10-27
Experience Mapping author, Karen Newman, announced today that her industry acclaimed book now has a new comprehensive website containing detailed information, testimonials, real-life case studies and reviews.
Experience Mapping is a process for taking an inventory of your skills, abilities, training, education, experience, and anything else that enables you to earn an income, and then realigning all of those assets and resources in a new career. "It's a simple and totally effective process that can absolutely change your life," said Newman, "just like it changed mine."
As ...
Farella Braun + Martel "Open Sources" Award-Winning Diversity Initiative
2010-10-27
Borrowing from the technology industry, Farella Braun + Martel LLP is "open sourcing" its Diversity Pipeline Internship Program curriculum aimed at diverse or disadvantaged high school students. The details of the program are now available to the legal community and firms seeking to adopt similar initiatives to minimize the significant start-up investment involved in developing and launching an internship program.
"An 'open source' philosophy has helped many software developers in their quest to innovate and build new programs," says managing partner Steve Lowenthal. ...
My mini Golf: The Indoor/Outdoor Putting Game for the Active Child on Your Holiday List
2010-10-27
With the 2010 holiday season rapidly approaching, finding the perfect gift for your loved ones, especially children, is no small feat. Whether you're looking for a gift for your son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter, nephew or niece, or any other special child in your life, give a gift that is both challenging and rewarding, and one that ensurs he or she stays active throughout the year. My mini Golf, distributed exclusively in the United States and Canada by Starting Time, is a durable, 19-piece putting set that any child can pick up and play anytime, anywhere on ...
Rockin' Midtown Harrisburg, PA-Area Soon to be Rockin' Steady Come November
2010-10-27
Midtown Tavern, 1101 North 2nd Street, is teaming up with newly-formed Beyond the Grade Events and Promotion, and local DJ-phenom, Geoffro, to kick off the fall with a brand-new Tuesday night called Rock Steady, with DJ Geoffro spinning all reggae music, all night, beginning at 9pm. There will be appropriately themed food and drink offers to set the mood for the evening, topped off with special giveaways (what will it be?) and future special guests. Rock Steady Tuesdays will replace Midtown Tavern's 'open mic' night. The weekly event is a free cover, 21+, and kicks off ...
CottageCare Customer wins cash prize in "THANK YOU" Campaign
2010-10-27
Marita O'Neil-Maloley received the biggest "Thank you" ever when she answered the phone on October 12th. It was Tom Schrader, CEO of CottageCare, and Karen Crawford, Manager of the Ft. Wayne, Indiana office, calling to inform her that she had won the $1000 prize giveaway. "I LOVE CottageCare," stated O'Neil-Maloley. "They make my life so much easier; I am always impressed with the girls who come to clean. They are so nice and professional, they do a great job and Ginger and Karen are a pleasure to work with. Thank you, CottageCare!" Ms. O'Neil-Maloley is not only a customer ...
Freedom Debt Relief Gives Consumers a 'Fresh Start'
2010-10-27
On Oct. 27, Freedom Debt Relief (FDR) will launch the "Fresh Start" program, designed to help consumers get out of debt quickly with no up-front fees.
FDR's Fresh Start program gives customers complete confidence that FDR will not charge fees until services are performed, and complies with final Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules regulating the debt settlement industry, says Andrew Housser, CEO of FDR.
"Since Freedom Debt Relief settles more credit card debt than any company in the nation, we are confident that Fresh Start will be one of the most effective debt ...
Winners of The Game Creators and Intel Games for Notebooks Competition Announced!
2010-10-27
The Game Creators recently ran a Games for Notebooks competition in association with Intel and it proved to be a huge success. The Game Creators recently teamed up with Intel to offer game developers the chance to win some amazing prizes for developing new game apps for netbooks. There were several fantastic prizes on offer with the top prize being an all expenses paid vacation worth up to US $5,000!
The competition produced superb and extremely keen entries with The Game Creators (TGC) community taking to the competition extremely enthusiastically. The entries came ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue
UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’
New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening
Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas
Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition
CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves
Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam
Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand
Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch
New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed
New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations
Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency
How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads
Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids
Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation
Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria
Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options
Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity
Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers
Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time
‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’
Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible
Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound
American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care
Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential
Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research
Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration
Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce
Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care
Resident physician intentions regarding unionization
[Press-News.org] Getting the big picture quicklySoftware edits huge images in seconds instead of hours