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QUICKLINKS
> Good News > Technology Update > Function Junction > Getting Graphic > Market Spotlight > IDELIX at Play > Events
Original satellite images courtesy ©SpaceImaging.
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New! PDT SDK 3.0 A Whole New View on User Interface Design.
Summer's here and things are heating up at IDELIX!
PDT was on display in the NEC Electronics booth at the ESEC Embedded Electronics Trade Show held at the Tokyo
Big Site last month. IDELIX partner System IO and NEC Electronics had PDT running on a circuit card showing
an automated lens roaming over an image. The eye-catching display was shown on the big screen for
all attendees passing by to see. Keep a close eye on what's heating up for IDELIX in Japan.
Email us to see when we will be presenting in your area, and don't forget to read how PDT can enhance your ELT functionality this month's Market Spotlight.
The Economist, June 19, 2003 print edition
Version 3.0 of the Pliable Display Technology SDK is now released and ready for integration!
With the release of 3.0, IDELIX has broadened the reach of the PDT SDK to a whole new set of developers through the addition of .NET, COM wrappers, and additional classes for DirectX rendering. Version 3.0 of the PDT SDK also features a new vector painting system to ease the integration of PDT into vector drawing applications. In addition to OpenGL and DirectX rendering options, a Fast Warp renderer component is now included for extremely optimized PDT lens use in memory and CPU constrained applications such as handhelds. A complete list of components included in v3.0 of the PDT SDK can be found at: http://www.idelix.com/pdt2dsdk.shtml. Also see the PDT Product Sheet for a complete overview of the functionality PDT will add to your application!
Interested in trying out the PDT SDK 3.0? Apply to the IDELIX
Partner Program.
Within the MedLife application, image magnification is a vital task that requires a high degree of precision.
Previously, this magnification was achieved by moving a separate inset window across an image for selection and
having a magnified version of that region appear in an adjacent location on the interface. Users quickly found
it taxing, however, to move from the original image to the magnified one, as their view of the area of interest
in relation to the entire image was compromised.
With the integration of PDT by IDELIX, this problem was quickly resolved.
"Contextual zooming became the apparent solution to this problem," says Dr. Aguilar. "We became aware of
IDELIX's PDT SDK shortly thereafter and quickly moved to integrate it into our system to help medical professionals
streamline and simplify the process of image analysis and patient assessment. The PDT SDK has proven to be both
straightforward and instrumental to the integration of contextual zooming within our application. The simple class
constructs and strict adherence to accepted programming standards made the SDK a joy to work with. As can be seen
in a comparison of Figures 1 and 2, the use of PDT technology and its ability to provide a high level of detailed
information within the focal region of the lens while simultaneously maintaining that view in relation to the
entire image overcomes the problems of loss of context and ease of use."
The MedLife system is currently undergoing both quantitative and qualitative analysis and those at the
Knowledge Systems Laboratory are actively seeking opportunities to expand clinical assessment of the system.
To see how Med-Life can provide medical professionals with enhanced information and an interactive environment
for dealing with and understanding complex data, visit
http://ksl.jsu.edu/projects/medical/visualization.html.
PDT in Medical Motion
Over this past year, Pliable Display Technology has been developed into a technology far beyond an inset magnifier.
Interested in learning more about...
- How to intuitively control your view through PDT's unique, in-place User Interface?
- PDT's ability to support your various algorithms?
- Undisplace?
- New multi-layer/multi-source viewing capabilities?
- PDT and image processing optimization?
Check out the new PDT Whitepaper. Questions? Email us at info@idelix.com.
A look at using PDT to optimize image processing
and use of bandwidth
PDT's detail-on-demand functionality and data format independency can be particularly useful when working with multiple sources of data such as aerial photos and mapping data. PDT can be configured to enable a user to view the details of an area of interest while maintaining full situational awareness. PDT also supports image compression techniques such as JPEG 2000. PDT's filter-like functionality means that users can pull extra detail into the focal area of the lens without having to redraw or reload an entire picture, resulting in bandwidth optimization and faster image processing. Scenarios where the ability to control the view within the PDT lens focal region can result in optimized decision making and performance include:
- JPEG 2000: Bring higher resolution detail into the area appearing within the PDT lens only; you do not have to redraw or decompress the entire image
- Connection to remote web map servers: When retrieving image data, only detail for the selected area of interest appearing within the PDT lens needs to be downloaded—not the whole image!
- Viewing large images on handheld devices with limited bandwidth: Optimize bandwidth by downloading only the detail you need for an area of interest, while still maintaining a view of the contextual surroundings
- Access control: Data and details appearing within the lens are specific to a person's ID
- Auto Dynamic Range Adjustment: Adjust the contrast and process the part of the image appearing within the lens; not the whole image
To understand this concept in more detail, download the PDT Web Map Client from www.idelix.com. This demonstration will show you how, when data is coming from a remote server, PDT calls only the layers of detail necessary to fill the lens.
Available in the PDT SDK Version 3.0
The Triangle Warp Renderer relies on texture mapping a triangle mesh of the lens shape. It is the slowest of the warp renderers but it supports all lens shapes and two levels of antialiasing for more accurate image data.
The Pixel Warp Renderer relies on a pixel displacement map to render the lenses. The displacement map is computed once and does not need to be recomputed until the lens changes shape. That means that lens movement is very fast but lens shape change (e.g. changing magnification, changing scoop, focus size, etc.) is slow. The image data accuracy for the Pixel Warp Renderer is not as good as the Triangle Warp Renderer because no antialiasing computations are performed.
The Fast Warp Renderer uses a block transfer of image data to simulate the shape of a lens. This is the fastest of all the renderers by far, but it suffers in terms of accuracy and flexibility. The Fast Warp Renderer only supports a rectangular lens shape. It does support antialiasing but this affects performance significantly. If you plan on integrating PDT on a CPU-constrained device such as a handheld, the Fast Warp Renderer is the best choice. For general desktop applications it is often appropriate to use the Fast Warp Renderer when the lens is moving, and the Triangle Warp Renderer when the lens is still.
To sum it up, use the Triangle Warp Renderer if you have a fast CPU and you require lots of accuracy and flexibility. Use the Fast Warp or Pixel Warp Renderers if speed is important or if your application will run on a slow device. But remember that the Pixel Warp Renderer requires a lengthy computation every time the lens changes shape.
Check out the PDT Integration Overview for more information on integrating PDT functionality into your application. Email us if you have further question or are interested in integrating PDT within your application.
New visualization technologies are driving changes in the way image and geospatial analysts
interact with their data. Pliable Display Technology is one emerging visualization technology
that has recently caught the attention of NIMA image analysts. PDT can result in significant
efficiency and accuracy gains when integrated within an Electronic Light Table (ELT) environment.
There are a number of imagery-based intelligence activities where PDT is directly applicable:
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1. Change detection
Chain multiple PDT lenses together to track changes over time, while still maintaining complete situational awareness. The PDT lens has its own unique in-place user interface that makes it precisely controllable by the analyst. PDT's unique folding capabilities bring localized regions of interest being compared over multiple image sets next to each other for side-by-side comparison. Original satellite images courtesy ©SpaceImaging.
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2. Auto Dynamic Range Adjustment Optimize image processing with PDT, by selectively adjusting image properties within a localized region. |
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3. Ground Control Point Inspection
Conduct quality control analysis, perform target assessments, prepare data, and examine landmarks with greater accuracy using PDT. |
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4. Mosaicking
PDT is an ideal tool to check for errors in registration or scaling in mosaicking. Move a PDT lens along the seams of a mosaic to inspect for flaws and misalignments and perform corrections without losing awareness of location. In the screenshot at left, the arrows indicate a misaligned mosaic tile visible in the PDT lens. |
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5. Snail Trails
Use the real-time PDT lens to perform image exploitation across a large image. Turn on the snail trail option to leave a lens trail as well as save and replay searched ones. In the screenshot at left, the PDT lens has followed a snail trail over multiple ground control points. Original satellite image courtesy ©DigitalGlobe.
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6. Precision Chipping, Annotation, and Mensuration
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7. Filtering
The PDT lens is an excellent metaphor for visualizing multi-layer information from a multitude of data sources. For example, filter multi-spectral data that incorporates an infrared layer, and check for suspicious hot areas in the mountains. The PDT lens provides visualization of the processed detail in the local region of interest, while also displaying the situational context. In the screenshot at left, active filtering in a PDT lens shows suspicious "hot spots" in a mountainous region. Original satellite image courtesy ©SpaceImaging.
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Once integrated into your ELT environment, PDT's unique user interface and detail-in-context functionality will enhance and extend the existing set of tools used for precise inspection and adjustment. In one NIMA Imagery Analyst's words, "PDT would enable me to perform data collection, data extraction, and editing more efficiently."
Interested in learning more on how you can integrate V3.0 of the PDT SDK? Join the IDELIX Partner Program.
October 6 - 8, 2003
AUSA Annual Meeting
Washington, DC
IDELIX will join the 27,000 attendees and 500 exhibitors in Washington for the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting.
October 14 - 17, 2003
GEO-INTEL 2003
New Orleans, LA
Meet IDELIX representatives at GEO-INTEL 2003, a premier industry event highlighting the geospatial
technologies that are critical to our nation's intelligence and defense.
October 14 - 17, 2003
Defence Innovation 2003
Quebec City, Quebec
A biennial Canada-wide networking forum for Canadian industry, DND’s research centres and
Canadian Forces decision makers involved in technological challenges and leading edge
technologies exploitation.
October 26-31, 2003
SEG International Exhibition 2003
Dallas, Texas
Join Dr. David Baar on Tuesday, October 28th at the Dallas Convention Center where he
will present on Detail-in-Context data visualization for geophysical data exploration and analysis
as part of the 2003 SEG Technical Program.
Would you like to meet us? Find out more about PDT? Find out more about these events? Email Tiffany Chester, Communications Coordinator, to set up an appointment for any of these events.
