3-D flash light detection and ranging (lidar) cameras developed by Advanced Scientific Concepts (ASC; Santa Barbara, CA, USA) have been chosen for the OSIRIS-REx planetary science mission that will return a sample of a carbonaceous asteroid to Earth in 2016.

Flir Systems (Wilsonville, OR, USA) has released details showing how its infrared camera systems were selected and used by NASA Langley Research Center for its shuttle and International Space Station programs.

Intevac Photonics, a subsidiary of Intevac (Santa Clara, CA, USA), has received a $10m contract to develop a camera for the US Army’s Apache Helicopter.

A region of Texas that contains four of the world's largest wind farms has shown an increase in land surface temperature that researchers have connected to local meteorological effects of the turbines.

A new white paper that describes the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 communication specification, how it differs from other available interfaces, and how it can be leveraged in vision applications is available for free download from Vision Systems Design.

A new data center at the University of Cambridge Institute for Astronomy (IoA; Cambridge, UK) will process imaging data from a satellite to create the first three-dimensional map of more than a billion stars.

A non-destructive Terahertz inspection system has been developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM (Kaiserslautern, Germany) to identify imperfections in the radar domes of aircraft during production.

Smart camera vendors are developing products for niche applications using novel optics, filters, and sensors.

In Part II of this three-part series, associate professor Daniel Lau (Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Kentucky) describes how active stereo systems can perform accurate 3-D reconstructions even on scenes with low texture areas and smooth surfaces.

Any nostalgic feelings for the past may be better put aside with the understanding that the future will only bring with it more exciting technologies, products, and applications.

University of Wyoming (Laramie, WY, USA) physics and astronomy associate professor Michael Pierce has built a Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (NIIS) that will be used to capture images of the stars.

Engineers at Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, MD, USA) have completed the assembly of the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the prime near-infrared imaging instrument for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Researchers at New Mexico State University (NMSU; Las Cruces, NM, USA) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI; Palo Alto, CA, USA) have concluded that unmanned aircraft can be safely and effectively used to assess power grid damage following a storm or natural disaster.

Engineers at Sentient Vision (Melbourne, Australia) have developed a computer vision system called Desert Owl designed to enhance the situational awareness of soldiers travelling in vehicles used by the Australian Defence Force.