New Microsoft project turns first person videos into smooth timelapses

A new project being undertaken at Microsoft Research involves turning first person videos into smooth timelapses, which Microsoft calls hyperlapses. Normally, when a first person video is sped up into a timelapse, the footage is shaky due to the constant movement. Microsoft's project aims to fix that by running the video through its algorithms to create a smoother camera path.

Helmed by researchers Johannes Kopf, Michael Cohen and Richard Szeliski, the project involves reconstructing the video using a 3D camera path that finds the optimal viewpoint, which may differ from the original perspective. The goal is to create the smoothest movement possible so that the end result doesn't look jittery when played back at 10 times the speed of the original video.

Here is a detailed video on how the videos are created:

Interested in the technology? Microsoft is working on making the Hyperlapse algorithm available as a Windows app.

Source: Microsoft Research