Google creates a camera for capturing surround video, and, in UK, the largest energy storage is being constructed
Researchers from Google have developed an algorithm and camera to capture volumetric video. The chamber consists of a transparent polymer hemisphere, inside of which is fixed 46 separate small action cameras with a resolution of 4K. They are connected and remove synced videos. As the authors say, algorithms convert videos from cameras in the array of hemispherical layers, each of which contains information about the color, transparency and depth. Each video is divided into 160 layers with a resolution of 1800 x 1350 pixels. Then, the algorithm combines each eight layers, and each of creates a polygon grid, and the image is mapped on it as texture. As a result, the developed camera can change the angle of the “shooting”, rotating and moving the head, and knowing the volume and distance of displacement of the objects relative to each other. The developers have created many videos and tested them in compression. The results showed that depending on the shooting scene the bitrate of the video stream is approximately 150-300 megabits per second. Thus, potentially, this algorithm can be used to stream realistic surround video VR-helmets in Gigabit Internet.
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Near Manchester, UK, construction on the world’s largest energy storage began. It will operate on the basis of liquid air battery and will compensate the decline in the generation of renewable electricity (wind and solar panels). In terms of the amount of energy stored, the new project will be the largest in the world outside of pumped hydro schemes, which require a mountain reservoir to store water.
The future energy storage will use spare green energy to compress air into a liquid and store it. When demand is higher, the liquid air is released back into a gas, powering a turbine that puts the green energy back into the grid.
The new liquid air battery, being developed by Highview Power, will store 250MWh of energy. It would to power up to 200,000 homes for five hours, and it can store power with minimal loss for many weeks. The project of Highview Power is due to be operational in 2022. Its advantage is that liquid air battery can be constructed anywhere on the planet..
Pumped hydro is limited by the need for a mountain reservoir, while gravity storage – where you raise a weight and then let it drop to power a generator – is less developed, as is large-scale production of hydrogen fuel from green energy that popular today.
One of the alternative options for energy storage are giant chemical batteries. The Highview battery will store almost double the amount stored by the biggest chemical battery, built by Tesla in South Australia. The project will cost about $ 100 million. The liquid air battery is creating 200 jobs, with a few dozen in the continuing operation. The plant’s lifetime is expected to be 30-40 years.
