Erik Olsen, The New York Times:
A 30-second video of a newborn baby shows the infant silently snoozing in its crib, his breathing barely perceptible. But when the video is run through an algorithm that can amplify both movement and color, the baby’s face blinks crimson with each tiny heartbeat.
This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in awhile.
Scientists use a process called Eulerian Video Magnification. In short, they take video input and measure the color intensity at each pixel. Next, they calculate the temporal variation in that intensity. That variation is then amplified and added back to the input. The result is a color-amplified video that allows viewers to see slight changes otherwise invisible to the human eye.
Even better, they posted other examples and the source code for their algorithm. Open science for the win!