Taipei Pillow Fight, 2010 Panorama | 臺北街頭枕頭大戰 |

A massive pillow fight at Taipei’s Chiang Kai Shek Memorial organized on Facebook, where it was termed 臺北街頭枕頭大戰 (loosely translated: ‘Taipei Street Corner Pillow Fight Battle Royale’.) Click the image above to experience the interactive panorama of the mêlée.

The event barely ran 15 minutes before it was broken up by some flustered security guards – still, quite a bizarre and wonderful scene while it lasted. Turnout was tiny compared to similar events elsewhere. This was probably one of the trickier panoramas I’ve pulled off, but it pales technically compared to this NYC pillow fight pano. I shot the pano with 4 images using the D3 and a Sigma 8mm on a tripod post that I held above my head, shooting with an intervalometer. Sure, it looked goofy – but it worked! The ambient sound was recorded separately on a Zoom H4n.

If you’re in Taipei and missed the fun, a second round might come about on April 4, 2010 — Worldwide Pillow Fight Day.

Bokodes – amazing uses for cameras to come

A team of MIT researchers have designed a 3mm replacement for traditional barcodes, called the Bokode, expressly designed for long distance camera recognition (4-20 meters). Based on visual data transmitted in your image’s bokeh and refocused by your camera lens onto the sensor, the Bokode “can hold thousands of times more information than their striped cousins and can be read by a standard mobile phone camera.”

This BBC article has more details:

“Let’s say you’re standing in a library with 20 shelves in front of you and thousands of books.”

“You could take a picture and you’d immediately know where the book you’re looking for is.”

And the [research] team also believes the tags could find their way into places not normally associated with traditional barcodes. For example, the system’s ability to read angular information could allow its use in motion-capture systems used to create videogames or films. “

More details and a video after the jump.

Monday Pano : Yangmingshan Outdoor Hotspring

Here’s the first in what I aim to make a weekly panorama feature on this blog.

This panorama is from a recent visit to the wonderful Bayen (8 wisps of steam) outdoor hotsprings, which is to my mind, quintessential Taiwan. Despite the 20 minute mountain hike past 3 ‘safety’ warning signs declaring 500USD fines, this place always has some satisfied, often retired, patrons fixing their n’th pot of tea. And that goes for whenever I’ve visited, be it during a medium typhoon, late at night and even mid-day on the hottest days of summer. Of course if it ever gets too hot, part of the charm of the place is the river that runs by right next to the hot pools.

Check out the other weekly panoramas and posts about panography here.