Don't blink: Microsoft brings Hyperlapse video app to Windows Phone, Android
Slow motion video not your thing? No worries because Microsoft has a new high-speed, time lapse application for Windows Phone and select Android handsets.
Dubbed Microsoft Hyperlapse, the free software creates video with such fast action videos at up to 32 times normal speed; quick enough to make you think you just drank a pot of coffee.
Kidding aside, Hyperlapse does use some interesting technology from Microsoft Research.
Instead of simply stitching video together using every tenth frame of a standard video, the software relies on intelligent algorithms to create more stable output, reducing the jumpiness often seen in time lapse films:
To make the video both speedy and smooth, the researchers came up with an algorithm that first creates an approximate 3D model of the landscape being filmed, and then identifies the dominant path that the camera took through that landscape. It then stitches together bits and pieces of different frames to create a smooth, stable hyperlapse that showcases the essence of the original video.
That approach is actually combined with previous Microsoft efforts to better stabilize video in general.
The result? Fast moving video that won't make you seasick or feel like you're strapped into the front car of a roller coaster. Unless the hyperlapse video actually is from that front car, that is.
The mobile version of Microsoft Hyperlapse is freely available for Windows Phone as well as certain Android phones.
Here's the list of current Google devices that work with Hyperlapse: The Samsung Galaxy S5, S6, S6 Edge, Note 4; Google's Nexus 5 & 6, Nexus 9 tablet; the HTC One M8 and M9; the Sony Xperia Z3.
Microsoft also has a pro version of the software for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 available to quickly create fast action videos with existing footage from a smartphone or even a GoPro camera. You can choose to speed up your video between two and 25 times with the software. A corresponding Hyperlapse app for Azure Media Services also launched today, helping to create and share these videos online.