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The first time we saw seam carving in action, we thought it was an optical illusion. It isn’t.

For those of you who saw the demonstration video and academic paper (see links below) a month back, you know why we were so amazed. Alas, it was but a proof of concept at the time. But now you can finally use seam carving on your own images!

First, a quick summary of the technique: Typically, when you resize a photo, you just make everything in it smaller. Simple, right? Well seam carving is like a smarter version of resizing. Your computer analyzes the photo and figures out what’s important and what isn’t, then it eliminates the less important areas first as you shrink the image.

That means you can resize a photo to be half as wide without shrinking everyone in it, or even make a photo wider without making it look stretched. You can even pick areas you definitely want to leave alone, or areas you definitely want to lose, making it a super easy way to remove an ex or a stranger from a otherwise lovely photo.

Well, we’ve said enough. You need to give it a try for yourself. (Or watch the amazing demo video!)

Rsizr — Free seam-carving image resizing on the web

See also…
Picutel Smart Resize
$95 Seam Carving Photoshop plugin (PC-only)

Liquid Resize for GIMP
Free Seam Carving plugin for GIMP

Actionscript sourcecode and examples
For you Flash cowboys and cowgirls who want to build this yourself.

Seam Carving academic paper (PDF)
Dr. Ariel Shamir and Dr. Shai Avidan describe their technique in detail. (Fun fact, Dr. Avidan was hired by Adobe shortly after this hit the web… look for seam carving to pop up in a future version of Photoshop!)

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www.jossphoto.com

“Freedom” © Josephine

All Portfolio | Screensavers

www.jossphoto.com

“Prayer” © Josephine

All Portfolio | Screensavers

Remember that GigaPan camera system from earlier this year? The one that made taking ridiculously large panoramic shots — like the one of Dublin Castle above — a lesson in simplicity? Yeah, well that very system is now being used to add detailed, wide-angle images to Google Earth thanks to collaboration between the search giant and Carnegie Mellon University. Additionally, we’ve now learned that Charmed Labs in Austin, TX will be manufacturing the mechanical devices and selling them for $300 apiece. But before the public gets their hands on ‘em, the firm is producing 300 systems “for people who will provide them with feedback.” Ah, the perfect excuse for a new widescreen monitor, no?

[Thanks, David]

We’ve already seen Sony’s first shameless attempt to court the YouTube crowd with the NSC-GC1 5 megapixel web-corder, but a quick look through the instruction manual reveals specs for another model, the NSC-GC3, which apparently cuts shooting time down from 2 hours to just 29 minutes. We’re not certain if that’s because of higher resolution or less memory, but either way, expect the GC3 to make an appearance soon.

[Thanks, maxmasa31]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

DigitalLife is all about the tweens today, and Nickelodeon isn’t about to be left out in the cold — the venerable network has paired up with Imation to release an array of brightly-colored gear for the budding young geek. In addition to a line of pretty-decent DAPs, it’s a pretty broad array of stuff you’d be mortified to own if you’re not 7, including Dora / Diego and SpongeBob-branded cameras in resolutions from VGA to 3.0 megapixels, a Dora the Explorer portable CD player, a SpongeBob 15-inch LCD TV and progressive-scan DVD player, and a whack-SpongeBob-to-snooze alarm clock. The best of the bunch appears to be the $100 7-inch picture frame, however, which has a pretty decent-looking screen. Check it all out — along with some hands-on shots — in the gallery.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Sanyo’s back with another Xacti solid state camcorder with this, their DMX-HD700. That’s “HD” as in high-def, “7″ as in 720p instead of the 1080p recording action found in their DMX-HD1000. On sale starting October 19th, the “world’s smallest and lightest 720p” camcorder records MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video and 7.1 megapixel stills to SD/SDHC cards. It’s also loaded with the ability to track up to 12-faces, a 2.7-inch LCD, and ISO 3200 sensitivity. Expect to drop an estimated ¥70,000 (about $609) or so for the privilege.
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[Via Impress]

Nikon doesn’t look to have gone very far to find a new President and CEO for its Nikon Inc. subsidiary, with the company announcing today that Yasuyuki Okamoto, a 29-year veteran of the company, will be stepping into both roles. That still leaves Michio Kariya as the top boss of parent-company Nikon Corp, with Okamoto responsible for North, Central and South American markets. Most recently, Okamoto served as the general manager and operating officer at Nikon’s Marketing headquarters for its Imaging unit, with him previously serving as general manager of corporate communications for Nikon Corporation in Japan, and president of Nikon France SA before that.