Voodoo Software Removes Objects From Video In Real Time

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lildreamer

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taken from the article
at http://www.popsci.com/technology/articl ... live-video

Augmented reality is so passé. This German software is all about diminished reality – removing objects from the visual field. We've seen something similar for photos (we're reminded of Photoshop's content-aware fill), but this software can neatly delete any object from live, full-motion video.

The effect is achieved by an image synthesizer that reduces the image quality, removes the object, and then increases the image quality back up. This all happens within 40 milliseconds, fast enough that the viewer doesn’t notice any delay. As the camera moves, the system maintains the illusion through tracking algorithms and guesswork. It does seem to be thwarted by reflections though; a cell phone removed from a bathroom counter is still visible in the mirror.

Currently the software only runs on Windows, but the Technische Universität team is planning to develop it for Android in the near future, where it will likely be available for free. See the seemingly magical software in action below.


My Gawd this has some frightful potential for screwing with history and facts and events...
Think about it -
 
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a_lost_packet_

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This is pretty darn awesome stuff! In REAL TIME even!

Saweet!

..

North Korea is going to have a field day with this!!!
 
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docm

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Remember the movie Rising Sun where it took a conspiracy across Japanese companies to pull this off? Between this and the now inevitable realtime augmented - there goes the certainty of video evidence.
 
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a_lost_packet_

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I think there are still going to be easily detectable fingerprints left behind in the original data. I can even see some moire in the video where the replacement was done. It may even be possible to reconstruct videos to, at the very least, outline the removed objects. Somewhere, there's got to be a signature in the raw video itself that shows the manipulation.

Then again, end-result is like a "video of a video" type of thing. It's passed through a filter and reconstructed, right? Put it through another program that acts to create a "vid of a vid" resulting in new data, and it'd be harder to trace. Then, you'd have to put the video images themselves through some sort of detection filter.

I don't know if this is going to cause any serious issues. But, it certainly could make for a heck of a lot more posts in The Unexplained...
 
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docm

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I work with/test realtime video gear that, with such improvements, would massively reduce or eliminate that noise. 5 years of dev & good sources and you'd have a hard time proving manipulation unless each original frame had a steganographic "watermark" in it, and even then......
 
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lildreamer

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DOCM ALP good points

what scares me is events can be re-written instantly for the world view consumption...

example a fictional broadcast of some idiotic regime showing its troops parading down the street showing off their hardware. Nothing unusual just abunch of soldiers in a line...

but because of this new technique - you don't get to see the innocent civilians being ventilated by the parading soldiers
mmmm uprising surpressed...and you dont get to see the gory details

oh yes pay no attention to the videos released by that fanatical group its fabricated - yes our video shows the "truth" nothing happend.
 
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a_lost_packet_

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lildreamer":1h66mu35 said:
...oh yes pay no attention to the videos released by that fanatical group its fabricated - yes our video shows the "truth" nothing happend.

There is that..

But, video evidence is usually evidence of "something." Filming "nothing" isn't evidence of something. Now, sure, you could film something and remove an object in order to try to convince someone the object wasn't there. But, that doesn't tell you where the object was, if it was known.

This tech is for real-time applications. For a properly equipped studio/lab, like docm's, they might not need this tech to begin with. So, if some country had enough tech and money to throw at something, they could fake a lot of vids if they felt like it. (Unless you're North Korea who can't seem to find a decent Photoshopper or Iran who likes the Cut&Paste function a bit too much.)

For someone who has the sole copy of a vid, maybe they could use this tech to fake something important... I don't know. It's possible. For instance, a clip of a party scene where a murder is committed later in the evening. In the original clip, the murder weapon is lying on the table. In the faked clip, it has been easily edited out. This tech makes that easier to do, but it would still be detectable by a qualified lab.

I think it's cool tech. I'm just having trouble finding ways that this tech could be used for "ill purposes" without detection. If someone had access to the technology to hide the manipulation, they wouldn't need the tech to begin with.

(Note: Remember Google's street-view tech that erases pedestrians/minors/etc from the images?)
 
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yevaud

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docm":pk02jhib said:
Remember the movie Rising Sun where it took a conspiracy across Japanese companies to pull this off? Between this and the now inevitable realtime augmented - there goes the certainty of video evidence.

Yes, the movie in which Sean Connery's character succinctly describes the difference between the Japanese and American philosophies: "In Japan, they fix the problem, and in America, they fix the blame."

Pardon the brief hijack; as you were. ;)
 
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