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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Infragram - the Infrared Photography Project by Public Lab - Kickstarter

Here's an interesting Project. I can think of other uses for these Infrared Cameras too. You could get some cool looking efx, the old fashion way. Through the Lens, with Fillers... Instead of using filters and such in your favorite Image Editing App, such as the Gimp...

Don

Infragram: the Infrared Photography Project

by Public Lab

A simple, cheap infrared camera which can measure plant health -- for geek gardeners, farmers, and open source DIY scientists.

What could farmers, gardeners, students or environmental activists do with an infrared camera that costs as little as $35?

What is Infragram?

Infragram is a simple, affordable near-infrared camera produced by the Public Laboratory community in a series of collaborative experiments over the last few years. We originally developed this technology to monitor wetlands damages in the wake of the BP oil spill, but its simplicity of use and easy-to-modify open-source hardware & software makes it a useful tool for home gardeners, hikers, makers, farmers, amateur scientists, teachers, artists, and anyone curious about the secret lives of plants.

What can you do with Infragram?

Take pictures to examine plant health in backyard gardens, farms, parks, and nearby wetlands
Check on the health of your crops, especially from a balloon or a kite

Monitor your household plants

Teach students about plant growth and photosynthesis

Create exciting science fair projects

Generate verifiable, open environmental data

Check progress of environmental restoration projects

Document unhealthy areas of your local ecology

Pretend you have super-veg-powers

Near-infrared photography has been a key tool for planning at the industrial and governmental level: it is used on airplanes and satellites by vineyards, large farms, and even NASA for sophisticated agricultural and ecological assessment. In contrast, Infragram allows average people to monitor their environment through verifiable, quantifiable, citizen-generated data. Just as photography was instrumental to the rise of credible print journalism, inexpensive, open-source data-collection technologies democratize and improve reporting about environmental impacts.

Start exploring your world today with Infragram!

How does it work?

Photosynthesizing plants absorb most visible light (less green than red and blue, which is why they're green to our eyes!) but reflect near-infrared. When you take a picture with the Infragram, you get two separate images -- infrared and regular light -- and a false-color composite that shows you where there are big differences. Bright spots in the composite means lots of photosynthesis! (Learn more here)

We're able to get both channels in one by filtering out the red light, and reading infrared in its place using a piece of carefully chosen "infrablue" filter (read more here). The images are later processed online -- combining the blue and infrared channels into an image map of photosynthesis (as shown above).