Automated Compass-Header on Streaming / Video Feed?

[Jeff Miller]

Rick Smith stated the following on the Spotter Category:

The issue of knowing where the chaser is looking is a big one, and has prompted me on several occasions to call the chaser or send a TV station a message asking which way they are looking

Does it exist - or can it exist - for some sort of attachment to a video camera - or GPS on video - so that the direction that the videographer is facing and videotaping can be superimposed as a small semi-transparant icon or compass over the video they are recording - or even better - on streaming feeds?

Perhaps if ChaserTV or SevereStudios - or other Live Stream Chaser Services added this icon that would eliminate this NWS concern and speed up Stream-Based Warnings based on visual streaming. Even better might be transparant GPS overlays.

I'm honestly not certain if this technology exists yet for a camera through technology to be able to determine which direction it is filming, so this is possibly purely hypothetical and aimed just for proactive discussions - though I could be wrong.

Just a thought!

 

[Jason Foster]

I have thought of the same thing, but have not looked hard for a solution. One thing I've also wanted to add is a overlay of my speed (along with heading) when in the vehicle. I've had a number of folks (during my snow footage) complain I was 'driving way too fast' yet, was doing like 10mph in the snow. One area I wanted to look at is what police use, because they do seem to have some of that kind of info overlaid on their video. That would be where I would start.

Of course, it also is a good idea to just say it verbally over the stream if you include audio in the stream. Chat rooms also help in this because you can type the direction quick (if there is time). A simple NNW, or SW, etc. I think many already have the map feature up via SN. I don't know if it is correct, but I would 'force update' as soon as I saw something worthy a report. If forget what SN's normal update period is.

 

[Rob Herman]

The police probably have a GPS wired into their system.

 

[Tyler Allison]

If forget what SN's normal update period is.

60 second update timer

 

[Jason Foster]

The police probably have a GPS wired into their system.

Some might...but I'm more interested in the interface, software, hardware, etc. I remember, even going back to the early 90s (before good public GPS) when police video had their speed on the video for using in court to prosecute speeders and criminals on car chases. We've all see it on "those" shows.

 

[Bob Hall]

Assuming you are feeding an NTSC signal to a video capture device there are a number of commercial and Amateur TV products that can be purchased or assembled. Try goggling “gps overlay video ntsc.” One that I have been looking at for a couple of years is http://www.icircuits.com/prod_osdgps.html.

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

I am going to buy one of those cheap compasses that attach to the window and stick it in front of the camera where it can be seen down at the bottom of the screen.

http://www.actfind.com/products/wholesale-Digital-car-compasses.html

Not the fanciest way but would definitely help anyone watching.

 

[D. Hayes]

might have focusing issues with the compass so close to the lens.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Some newer model camcorders come with GPS built in. My Sony xr500v does, for example. I'm not sure how to interface with it and its a feature I haven't really looked at since I already have a GPS connected to my laptop.

I've actually mounted my video camera on a servo motor and interfaced that with my laptop. This gives me the exact pan angle of the camera relative to the front of the vehicle. I can just add that angle to my GPS heading to get the heading of the camera. I can then output that heading to a webpage or ontop of the webcam stream as an overlay. This is not a plug and play solution, though, and requires a lot of tinkering and programming experience. Its also not practical if you're hand holding your camera. If you'd like to tinker with something similar though, these are the sensors and interface kits I used:
http://www.phidgets.com/
They connect via USB and have API's for all the popular programming languages, so they are pretty easy to setup and use if you have some programming experience.

 

[Jeff Miller]

Good thoughts all.

Kind of a duh moment, there's no way Severe Studios or ChaserTV can add such an icon, that would, obviously, be up to the user and the end user's equipment - so I'm not sure exactly what in carnation I was thinking when I typed that as far as the direction the camera is facing. However, if they have a GPS map, then maybe it is conceivable to perhaps overlay the streaming video with the GPS coordinates.

I really think that it would be the *next step* in severe weather streaming to not just have the tornado's image streaming, but coordinates and direction. This will lead to higher accuracy and verification - and ultimately, potentially, faster warnings based on streaming video.

 

[D. Hayes]

With ChaserTV you can create you own overlay ad. I don't see why you couldn't direct that at a small widget on your own website that tracked your location and direction. It might take a whee bit of thinking but I would consider it very possible. Something that the ChaserTV crew might want to consider.

 

[Scott Bennett]

I have been wrapping my head around this, our ad solution would let you put a widget in the pre-roll ad however there are a ton of technical issues to even get to that point. The basic encoders all of our sites use to send the video don't do overlays so you need a 3rd party application, the good ones are very expensive.

The only real possible solution I could think of would be like Skip was talking and somehow send the data to SN with another module, the GPS knows the last direction you were heading but may not know or be accurate enough to know the last 10ft you pulled up to a parking spot or pointed the camera. It would almost have to be mounted on the camera hot-shoe. I have had the NWS call me and ask where the camera was pointing.

 

[Rick Smith]

Great discussion!

Someone at NSSL showed me a cool iPhone app called Theodolite. Just think if you could integrate something like this into the video feed...

http://hunter.pairsite.com/theodolite/

Rick

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

There is another half solution to this I thought of. For those who use WebcamMax. There may be other programs that do this, but I have not seen them. WecamMax allows you to do picture-in-picture, and allows you to set the source as your desktop (or just a specified area of the desktop). You can set that source over the direction icon on your GPS program like Streets and Trips to give a little more up to date data on your direction. I am going to test this theory out the next time I chase.

There are still problems with this. The camera could be facing a direction other than what the vehicle is moving. When you are not moving it may indicate false movement in another direction. I think if someone was watching the video for more than a minute they would have a decent idea of where the camera was pointed. Atleast more so than without it.

Here is an example. In the bottom left is what the icon would look like and you can change the size and place it anywhere you want. It is not an end all solution, but it is a step. If your crazy you could extend the box to include your speed, but I dont think anyone would want to do that. (btw, I am not watching the game I just needed somthing for a video source)

 

[Bill Tabor]

It might be a good idea to link a chaser's Spotternetwork tornado report to their streaming video. In other words have a way of being able to associate the two together so that if a report is made their cam is highlighted or something. I believe this can kind of be inferred currently if you check the report and see who it was made by and then go find their icon on the storm and check the stream. A one click option would be nice. This could help out NWS offices as well to quickly affirm or deny the quality of the report.