Microsoft's Hyperlapse Video Demo Shows Unbelievably Cool, Smooth Time-Lapse Video Playback

If you record your outdoor adventures with a helmet-mounted camera, you’re going to love this. A trio of Microsoft researchers have solved the problem of shaky time-lapse videos with a method they call “hyperlapse.” Where speeding up a long video used to create a surreal, stuttering movie, hyperlapse lets you take your viewers on a smooth, fast ride. Check out the video for some samples that will have you itching to strap on that GoPro and head out for a bike ride or some rock climbing.

Microsoft researchers Johannes Kopf, Michael Cohen, and Richard Szeliki say in a post on Microsoft’s research site that the hyperlapse method determines the input path of the camera and then establishes a similar path that is close to the original path, but is smoother. Viewpoints are selected and then the input video is re-created by “rendering, stitching, and blending” the frames. The hyperlapse method isn’t available for us mortals just yet, but the Microsoft team says that a Windows app is in the works. So far, 2014 seems to be shaping up as a big year for Microsoft and cameras.