Tornado vision

[Todd Lemery]

So I see this App in the App Store called “tornado vision”. It appears to have filters for taking pics of tornadoes in different condition, tornado, hail and wind probabilities when you point it at a storm and a lightening freeze frame Among some other stuff. I did download the free App, but I don’t know if some or any of the features work on it.
Has anybody here tried it yet? I will when I get a chance, but was wondering if anyone has given it a go yet.

 

[RZ Fortner]

I used it slightly during May of 2021 in Kansas. The free version of course. I could tell a difference in some features, but not sure if I would pay for it or not honestly. I would have to mess with it more to make that judgment.

 

[JamesCaruso]

I downloaded it after learning about it here. Of course, I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. I was looking through some of the reviews on the Apple App Store, and thought this one was funny:

 

[RZ Fortner]

I have a photo I have taken with and without one of the tornado vision filters. I’m still trying but I’m having trouble uploading it.

 

[RZ Fortner]

Ok. Now, these photos are not the best.. they were taken by my wife out the passenger side of my truck while I was driving. With an a iPhone. So don’t judge the quality of this hahaha

 

[Scott Olson]

Hi guys, Tornado Vision is my app so let me take a moment to explain how the app works.

There are three things here:

1) The mode when you open the app is a photo contrast filter to help see rain-wrapped or other low contrast tornadoes. Basically, I took a hundred different photos where tornadoes were really hard to see without contrasting and created filters around the curves.

2) The night mode does a couple things, one it changes the shutter, ISO because normal iOS or Android devices are terrible to see anything at all. Secondly, it acts as a quick throaway lightning trigger - you set a sensitivity level and it will immediatley freeze capture the frame, again so you can see what is actually going on in the storm.

3) The by far coolest feature is simply looking at any storm with the phone and getting an augmented reality display. This includes visually seeing storm reports, and being able to click on the top left figures to get a complete storm and environmental display. I've attached some example pics.

These days I think most people use it as a photo filter app but the real magic is in the augmented reality.


I've attached an image of one of the filters on the 2016 Big Springs, TX Tornado - which was rain-wrapped/poorly contrasted and could just barely visually see it.

 

[JamesCaruso]

I look forward to trying it. I wish I could experiment with it somehow, before actually chasing. The problem is, it seems you can only really experiment with it when there is an actual tornadic supercell in view… Do I really want to be screwing around during those fleeting moments on a chase vacation, when that could be the only time I’m near a tornado the whole trip? There’s already enough fumbling around with camera and video as it it, always trying to balance between that and “being in the moment…” Hopefully there will be that ideal scenario where a tornadic storm is in view for a decent length of time, *and* I am able to be stationary… Probably more likely that I’ll have a chance to play with it for lightning after dark when storms have moved off to the east…

 

[RZ Fortner]

Ok, so you made me buy the full version now! I’ll be out until June 1st after today. So I’ll give the full version a good ole effort and see what happens!

 

[M Kaiser]

Hi guys, Tornado Vision is my app so let me take a moment to explain how the app works.

There are three things here:

1) The mode when you open the app is a photo contrast filter to help see rain-wrapped or other low contrast tornadoes. Basically, I took a hundred different photos where tornadoes were really hard to see without contrasting and created filters around the curves.

2) The night mode does a couple things, one it changes the shutter, ISO because normal iOS or Android devices are terrible to see anything at all. Secondly, it acts as a quick throaway lightning trigger - you set a sensitivity level and it will immediatley freeze capture the frame, again so you can see what is actually going on in the storm.

3) The by far coolest feature is simply looking at any storm with the phone and getting an augmented reality display. This includes visually seeing storm reports, and being able to click on the top left figures to get a complete storm and environmental display. I've attached some example pics.

These days I think most people use it as a photo filter app but the real magic is in the augmented reality.


I've attached an image of one of the filters on the 2016 Big Springs, TX Tornado - which was rain-wrapped/poorly contrasted and could just barely visually see it.

if I’m not mistaken, the app utilizes a filter to invert the colors (kind of like a photo negative) of whatever you’re looking at.