Everything old is new again

Last month, I took a look at the new Camera Match Overlay feature in Input-ACE. The Overlay feature can be used in conjunction with a 3D laser scanner and it's accompanying software to create demonstrative exhibits.

I'm not a big fan of the feature, preferring single image photogrammetry to conduct measurements within the evidence items without creating brand new exhibits. But, it occurred to me ... one of the nice things about getting old is you get to see history repeat itself.

When I first arrived at the LAPD in 2001, it had a video / image processing workstation from Cognitech. It was then that I first met Dr. Lenny Rudin. Last month, I was in Pasadena to present a lecture and ventured over to CalTech's amazing restaurant to have lunch with Dr. Rudin and catch up on what's new with him and Cognitech.

Our conversation bounced all over the place and eventually exceeded the allotted time that the restaurant had for lunch service. I like those conversations where time ceases to be a factor, just enjoying the topics and the company.

Of course the current state of the industry came up. Who's who and what's what. If you're reading this and you don't know the names (Cognitech and Dr. Rudin), that's a shame. Dr. Rudin is one of the founders of this thing we now call Forensic Multimedia Analysis, but has largely been written out of the history by those with a more commercial agenda. It's only the old folks who know the likes of Dr. Rudin, Dr. Russ, and the like.

Nevertheless, we discussed input-Ace's Overlay feature a bit, noting it's similarity to Cognitech's Measure package that began life in the 90's (now called AutoMeasure).

Everything old is new again. You can find the 1995 paper that describes Cognitech's Measure over at the SPIE (link). It's not an "overlay" procedure as such, but a single image photogrammetry method that builds out the 3D space within the 2D image. Unlike Overlay and its mixed-methods approach, Cognitech's Measure does have a validation history available in the literature.

Over lunch, we talked about where Cognitech's tools are now and what are the plans for the future of Cognitech's offerings. It has been a while since I've used Cognitech's tools. I'm looking forward to getting to know the new versions and the new products. Hopefully, if Dr. Rudin agrees to allow it, I'll be showcasing some of them in future blog posts.

Have a good week my friends.