Barcode Scanner In Processing

September 22, 2009 by 3 Comments

barcode_sc

Reader [Nikolaus] decided that instead of using an existing image based bar code decoder, he would write his own. Using the Processing language he created a scanner that parsed the black and white pattern when a bar code was centered on the image. His code then parsed that data and compared it with the initializing character to provide a reference. Currently his scanner supports three character sets of the Code 128 encoding, and provided his complete code so that others could add as they see fit. He admits that the code is a bit messy due to the lengthy character tables, but very straight forward.

Remote Image Processing In JavaScript

March 7, 2009 by 2 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3_cFel26J8]

[Tom] wrote in to tell us about his JavaScript project for motion detection. It ties together two ideas we’ve talked about recently. The first is doing image processing in-browser using Canvas(), which we’ve seen employed in captcha breaking. The second is offloading heavy processing to browsers, which we saw recently in the MapReduce implementation. [Tom] is using JavaScript to compare consecutive images to determine if there’s any motion. He did this as part of MJPG-Streamer, a program for streaming images from webcams. It can run on very limited hardware, but image processing can be very intensive. Doing the image processing in-browser makes up for this limitation and means that a custom client program doesn’t have to be written. You can find the code here and a PDF about the proof of concept.

Laughing Man In Processing

December 31, 2008 by 50 Comments

laughing_man

The Laughing Man is the antagonist from the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. During each of his public appearances in the series he manages to hack all video feeds/cyborg eyes in the vicinity to obscure his face with the logo above.

[Ben Kurtz] had been watching the series recently and realized he could put together a similar effect using Processing. The interesting bit, and what makes this more fun than a simple demo, is that he’s using the OpenCV library. OpenCV is a open source computer vision library. [Ben] uses it to handle the facial recognition in Processing and then apply the image.

It’s only 100 lines and we wonder what other fun tricks could be employed. Here’s a Hack a Day skull you can swap in for the logo.

[thanks dakami]

Processing 1.0

November 25, 2008 by 18 Comments

Processing, the open source programming language designed for artists and other creative types, finally went 1.0. Processing inspired numerous outpourings of creativity and beauty, from interactive art installations to sound sculptures. Improvements to Processing include OpenGL anti-aliasing, an extensible Tools menu, and the XML library included by default. You can read up on the changes or download Processing and start playing with it yourself.

[via Create Digital Motion]

Wiimote Head Tracking In Processing

August 25, 2008 by 3 Comments


[Manuel] has been playing around with [Johnny Lee]’s Wiimote head tracking code. He’s posted a preliminary port outlining the code in the Processing environment. It relies on darwiinremoteOSC so you won’t see this outside of OSX, but it should help you out if you’re trying to do this is in Processing on another platform.

[via Create Digital Motion]

[photo: nicolasnova]

Generative AI Hits The Commodore 64

May 15, 2024 by 4 Comments

Image-generating AIs are typically trained on huge arrays of GPUs and require great wads of processing power to run. Meanwhile, [Nick Bild] has managed to get something similar running on a Commodore 64. (via Tom’s Hardware).

A figure generated by [Nick]’s C64. We shall name him… “Sword Guy”!
As you might imagine, [Nick’s] AI image generator isn’t churning out 4K cyberpunk stills dripping in neon. Instead, he aimed at a smaller target, more befitting the Commodore 64 itself. His image generator creates 8×8 game sprites instead.

[Nick’s] model was trained on 100 retro-inspired sprites that he created himself. He did the training phase on a modern computer, so that the Commodore 64 didn’t have to sweat this difficult task on its feeble 6502 CPU. However, it’s more than capable of generating sprites using the model, thanks to some BASIC code that runs off of the training data. Right now, it takes the C64 about 20 minutes to run through 94 iterations to generate a decent sprite.

8×8 sprites are generally simple enough that you don’t need to be an artist to create them. Nonetheless, [Nick] has shown that modern machine learning techniques can be run on slow archaic hardware, even if there is limited utility in doing so. Video after the break.

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Supercon 2023: MakeItHackin Automates The Tindie Workflow

May 7, 2024 by 2 Comments

Selling your hardware hacks is a great way to multiply your project’s impact, get your creations into others’ hands, and contribute to your hacking-related budget while at it. If you’re good at it, your store begins to grow. From receiving a couple orders a year, to getting one almost every day – if you don’t optimize the process of mailing orders out, it might just start taking a toll on you.

That is not to say that you should worry – it’s merely a matter of optimization, and, now you have a veritable resource to refer to. At Supercon 2023, [MakeItHackin]/[Andrew] has graced us with his extensive experience scaling up your sales and making your shipping process as seamless as it could be. His experience is multifaceted, and he’s working with entire four platforms – Tindie, Lectronz, Etsy and Shopify, which makes his talk all that more valuable.

[MakeItHackin] tells us how he started out selling hardware, how his stores grew, and what pushed him to automate the shipping process to a formidable extent. Not just that – he’s developed a codebase for making the shipping experience as smooth as possible, and he’s sharing it all with us.

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