How Mobile Embedded System Complements Real-Time Imaging

By Embedded Advisor | Thursday, February 20, 2020

Real-time imaging is sure to see newer heights of advancements with mobile embedded systems serving as the support.

FREMONT, CA: Embedded systems are increasingly being used for a number of applications such as smartphones, computer systems, washing machines, and many other devices. The advancements in the field of mobile devices have further triggered the essence of embedded systems. With innovations in embedded mobile sensors, such as GPS, cameras, and digital compasses, a variety of data is being captured. The vast number of data sources has further triggered the requirement for new sensing applications across various research domains such as mobile media analysis, mobile information retrieval, and mobile computer vision. Among the many challenges surrounding mobile devices, real-time imaging stands out due to its visual essence.

Seamless user experience has been considered as one of the major factors in designing mobile image and video processing applications for varied requirements with different device sizes. However, its execution is a challenging task and requires seamless integration of mobile sensors as well as multidisciplinary research like visual content adaptation and user behavior analysis. Accessing the data pertaining to high-quality real-time video and images via mobile devices enhances battery consumption. The above challenge can be addressed with the aid of cloud services.

Most of the intense embedded imaging applications are uploaded to the cloud to save energy and optimize battery lifetime for mobile users. Further, the increased need for high-quality image resolution is also encouraging the usage of cloud services. The flexibility offered to the manufacturers by cloud services has led them to explore the real-time image and video processing in mobile embedded systems. New real-time imaging innovations, such as demosaicking, are also gaining traction. The technique involves a digital imaging process that can reconstruct a full-color image out of incomplete color samples. Various other embedded-based imaging innovations are also powering applications such as drones and microscopes.

Further advancements in imaging technology will also be complemented by innovations in embedded devices. Further, the usage of third-party services will also increase the scope of experiments and innovations that can be carried out in the embedded imaging landscape.