Researchers Use Cameraphones to Help Develop Mars Imaging Software

Scientists working with the Mars Society have been walking around the Utah desert in spacesuits, snapping photos of the ground in an attempt to develop image recognition software for use on the Red Planet. Gizmodo reports.

New Scientist says these researchers are attempting to develop software which can take an image of Mars' terrain, and identify any geological structures which might house organic matter. The software hopes to accomplish this by analyzing the color properties of images, breaking down the color, hue and intensity, and pointing out anything that seems irregular in comparison to its surroundings.

All the image processing is done on a computer, which receives the cameraphone images via laptop. The Mars Society says they don't expect cameraphones to be the weapon of choice in space. As for the locale, the Utah desert was picked as a locale, because like Mars, it's extremely dusty.

Street Photography

Street photography on flickr via boingboing.

Above photographs by Waxy, Taken on January 11, 2009.

GirlsWithiPhones.com: Autoportraits

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? Find out on GirlsWithiPhones.com. The male counterpart which I won't like to is the same principle of auto portraits with an iphone, but gone hard porn.

[via Trendhunter]

Depositing checks with your phone

NCR is now allowing customers to deposit checks anywhere they get reception on their data-enabled mobile phones, reports Gizmodo.

Your phone's camera, which must be at least 2-megapixels, acts as a scanner that captures an image of the check. APTRA then uses Mitek Systems' advanced recognition and image quality technologies to validate all data before transmitting those images directly to your financial institution or online banking web site.

The biggest win is that APTRA provides users with an extra level of convenience. Imagine, no more having to drop paper checks in the ATM, waiting in line at the bank during the crowded lunch hour rush or worse yet, tearing your hair out because you arrived five minutes after close. This is also a cost-effective way for financial institutions to manage customer checking, thereby helping to improve customer satisfaction and grow revenue.

Ultrasound Imaging Now Possible with a Smartphone

Computer engineers at Washington University in St. Louis are bringing the minimalist approach to medical care and computing by coupling USB-based ultrasound probe technology with a smartphone, enabling a compact, mobile computational platform and a medical imaging device that fits in the palm of a hand. Cellular News reports.

... "You can carry around a probe and cell phone and image on the fly now," said William D. Richard, Ph.D., Washington University Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. "Imagine having these smartphones in ambulances and emergency rooms." "On a larger scale, this kind of cell phone is a complete computer that runs Windows. It could become the essential computer of the Developing World, where trained medical personnel are scarce, but most of the population, as much as 90 percent, have access to a cell phone tower."

Michelle Obama, the homeless and the cameraphone

A story from The Los Angeles Times on First Lady Michelle Obama volunteering at a soup kitchen for homeless people, created controversy because one of the diners took her picture with a cameraphone: "If this unidentified meal recipient is too poor to buy his own food, how does he afford a cellphone? And if he is homeless, where do they send the cellphone bills?"

T Steel, site administrator of The Moderate Voice offers a stinging reply.

For all you types that look at the above picture and scoff so smartly, let me break something down for you, ghetto smarts style (I volunteered at homeless shelters for 10 years in inner city Detroit, Michigan USA):

1. Many pre-paid cell phones come with cameras.

2. Pre-paid cell phones are inexpensive at legal vendors.

3. Pre-paid cell phones and non pre-paid cell phones are frequently stolen and sold on the street DIRT CHEAP ($2 to $3 a phone many times).

4. Many homeless people buy the pre-paid cell phones and walk around with no service BUT still take pictures.

5. The same homeless people hold on to those cell phones and it is the first thing activated when they get more cash.

6. Many homeless people have only one way to be contacted, the cell phone. Thus it is HIGH priority especially in job searching.

7. Many homeless people are homeless because of loss of a job and inability to find solid work.

8. Homeless doesn’t mean shiftless or lazy. When jobs showed up at homeless shelters, everyone wanted one DESPERATELY.

9. There have been many programs in inner cities to provide cell phones to homeless and poor people for safety reasons (emergencies, etc). Don’t believe me? Safelink Wireless, please educate those not in the know!

...

Criticism of this photo and situation is pointless, nonsensical, quite petty, and loopy.

The PhotoChaining blog

The PhotoChaining blog is a continuous project where people practice the art of leaving memory cards in public places to be picked up and used by others, who then do likewise.

Caption that goes with picture above: I found the Rosa memory card in a bus in San Francisco - USA around mar.3, 2009.

How to participate in the project:

1. Take funny/original/humoristic/creative photos with your own camera (use a cheap memory card) .

2. Write a note in which:

- you explain in few words the PhotoChaining concept to the "finder".

- you provide a name* to the memory card (research on PhotoChaining to ensure that the designated memory card name has not already been allocated. If so, choose an other name).

3. Put the memory card and the note in a transparent plastic bag.

4. Leave the plastic bag in a public place (be sure people see the memory card in the bag).

Milan Exhibit Offers MMS of Artwork to Thwart Covert Camphone Snappers

To get around camera phone snappers who covertly snap artwork in museums where it's strictly forbidden, an exhbit in Milan has come up with a wonderful and obvious solution. Zoomata reports.

The recently-launched Samurai exhibit in Milan features some text-enabled works.

For the cost of a text message, exhibit organizers send you a picture of the work, plus a detailed description of it. In this case, there was more information about the Elk-horned warrior from the Edo period than in the exhibit.

It’s also a better pic than you’d be able to take on the sly. You can download it from your phone as a 60KB image — and then send it as a postcard if you fancy.

Friends at funeral snap photos of deceased

Have people lost their sense of propriety with the advancement of technology? The Electric New paper, Singapore reports on how people are taking pictures of the deceased in open caskets or of victims at the scene of accidents.

Magazine cover shot by camera phone

The cover of the latest issue of South Africa's Vodaworld magazine has been shot using a commercially available 8.1 megapixel camera phone, the Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot. “The resolution of camera phones has reached the level where they're no longer gimmicky; they're real cameras,” says Andrew October, editor of the title.

[via BizCommunity]

US couple sue over McNudes

A US woman who sent some nude snaps of herself to her hubby's mobe got a nasty shock when they turned up online - complete with her name, address and telephone number. The Register reports.

According to the BBC, Phillip Sherman accidently left his phone at a McDonald's in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on 5 July. Staff helpfully promised to hold onto the device until he could pick it up, but the offending snaps of missus Tina magically appeared on the internet, after which she "began receiving offensive calls and text messages about the pictures".

The couple are now demanding damages of $3m from the burger chain. They say they were forced to move house as a result of the leak, and are suing "McDonald's Corporation, the owner of the franchise involved and the restaurant's manager" for "emotional distress, embarrassment and damage to their reputations".

The Polling Place Photo Project

The Polling Place Photo Project is a nationwide experiment in citizen journalism that encourages voters to capture, post and share photographs of this year’s primaries, caucuses and general election.

By documenting local voting experiences, participants can contribute to an archive of photographs that captures the richness and complexity of voting in America.

[via GeekSugar]

Wealthy Asians use phones to blog, take photos: study

For wealthy Asians, mobile phones and Blackberrys are much more than a way to stay in touch, with a survey finding portable communication devices increasingly being used to watch videos, take pictures and surf the Web. Reuters reports.

"The Synovate-Pax regional survey of nearly 10,000 respondents across seven countries in Asia showed 56 percent of affluent Asians use their mobile devices every week to take pictures, while more than 30 percent watched video clips.

... The Synovate-PAX study tracked media and digital consumption, prosperity and influence across 11 Asia-Pacific markets -- Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, India and the Philippines.

It was conducted in 2007 and 2008 and respondents had Internet usage of 60 minutes or above in an average week."

Freeing Those Snapshots Trapped Inside the Cellphone

For years, cellphone users could get pictures from their phones to the Web, but for most people, learning how to use those services is the digital equivalent of a trip to the D.M.V. The New York Times reports.

"... Carriers and device manufacturers have only lately figured out that users need a single button that says, “Send my new photo now.”

Verizon Wireless in the coming weeks will introduce just such a service. Verizon was not ready to release details about its plan, but Alltel, which Verizon plans to purchase, recently started its Pic Transfer service. For $3 a month, each time a user snaps a photo, a box appears on the cellphone screen asking the shooter if he wants to send the photo to Photobucket, Flickror whatever online service the user prefers.

How would the phone know which Web site to suggest? The company has eliminated even that small measure of guesswork. Subscribers can bring their phones to an Alltel store where a representative asks the questions and does all the work. Customers who are not near a store can set it up on Alltel’s Web site."

Telephoto mobile phone lens hack

Telephoto mobile phone lens hack by UK artist Kerrin Mansfield with more the photographic results here.

[via Jan Chipchase for future perfect]

Polo Ralph Lauren to launch shopping by cell phone

Polo Ralph Lauren is to be the first luxury retailer to launch a mobile commerce site, reports Reuters.

... "The apparel maker will begin placing special codes in print ads, mailings and store windows along with its sponsorship of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, which begins later this month.

Shoppers can download special software to camera-phones to scan the codes and be directed to a phone-friendly version of a Ralph Lauren website, where they can shop, watch tennis videos and read company content."

Postures of Use

[via Jan Chipchase's future perfect]

Mobile phone snaps tell Big Macs from broccoli

A team at the University of Tokyo in Japan has come up with a way for our cameraphones to help us eat a balanced diet. Techradar reports.

"The researchers have developed image-recognition software that can tell meat and potatoes from fish and rice and can ignore any non-food items in an image, the point being to establish what food groups are present in a meal merely by analysing a photo of it.

The idea is that users take a snap of whatever they eat using a camera or cameraphone and have the software keep a meal diary what they've been consuming. Accuracy is claimed to be around 90 per cent."

Nike lets users design trainers via mobile phone

According to NMA, Nike has launched a service across Europe to enable consumers to design their own trainers based on pictures taken using a camera phone.

The PhotoiD service encourages consumers to take a picture of any subject using their camera phone, which is then sent via MMS to a short code.

A personalised picture of a trainer is sent back which features the predominant colours of the photo. "

Korea protests a gadget proving ground

When tens of thousands of Koreans converged in the center of Seoul recently for a mass protest against the new president, many were clutching two vital items: a candle and a mobile phone loaded with snazzy features. Stuff reports.

The protest movement, which started in early May to oppose US beef imports, has since become a stage for a broad range of political grievances against the government – from high fuel prices to health-care privatization and the cost of education.

The month-long series of gatherings has also been a valuable testing ground for the latest communication devices, gadgets and websites.

... With powerful camera phones, demonstrators are able to shoot photos and videos that they can instantly upload on internet sites thanks to high-speed wireless technology."

Security cameras and a mobile phone help man track down mysterious house guest

A homeless woman was recently arrested in Tokyo after living undetected in a man's closet for a year and sneaking food out of his kitchen. It was the missing food that tipped him off, so he installed some security cameras in his home to transmit images to his phone. Some motion was detected, so he called the police, and soon enough they spotted her in the closet -- where she had planted a mattress.

[via Engadget]

Mobile phone pictures used to diagnose STDs online

The Mirror reports that embarrassing sex diseases can now be diagnosed by pictures sent from mobile phones.

"People too shy to visit an STD clinic can upload images of their intimate problems - and get an almost instant medical opinion. The pioneering service allows men and women to reveal worrying lumps or rashes without the ordeal of a face-to-face consultation.

The pictures will be examined by doctors, who will send out any advice or prescription by post or email."

Posing Like TV Series Characters

Saturday night, my son and his friends thought the lighting in the kitchen was interesting. So they took some pictures, posing like TV series' characters on the covers of DVDs. I think they're just great! A new fad? In all honesty, they didn't use a cameraphone, but they could have. A couple more pictures here.

Cellphones used for medical imaging?

A team of engineers at the University of California at Berkeley has developed a technique for transmitting medical images via cellphones.

This potentially could bring medical imaging to the 'three-quarters of the world's population which has no access to ultrasounds, X-rays, magnetic resonance images, and other medical imaging technology.'

The lead researcher said that this new system would make imaging technology inexpensive and accessible in non-industrialized countries.

[via Roland Piquipaille's Technology Trends]

Nude Pictures Over Cell Phones Now Part of Teen Dating

Well that title certainly got my attention.

The Associated Press reports that Central Ohio teens are now using their cell phones to send nude pictures of themselves and don't see anything wrong with it, leaving Mark Raiff, a principal at Columbus' Olentangy Liberty High School, speechless.

"Detective Brian Marvin of the FBI Cyber Crime Task Force says he has seen everything from a strip tease to explicit sex sent by cell phone. He says the content sometimes makes its way to Internet Web sites for others to see.

Experts say teens often don't understand the dangers. They suggest parents pay attention to their kids' phones."

Related:

-- Colorado Middle school kids take camphone pics of themselves nude

-- Students Traded Nude Photos Over Cell Phones

-- Alabama Middle school students swap nude cell phone photos

Cell camera turned medical microscope

Doctors and biophysicists at the University of California have developed a device that turns a common cell phone camera into a medical microscope. ABC Local reports.

"Say you're in a remote or undeveloped part of the world, and you have to diagnose an illness. Even if you could find a microscope, you don't have a doctor to look through it, but you do have a cell phone. What if you could attach the phone to the microscope, call another cell phone halfway around the world, and have the doctor with this phone see what the microscope sees? That's the idea behind CellScope.

"We clip it into a modified belt-holder," says Dan Fletcher at the University of California at Berkeley. And they add other off-the-shelf parts to hold the cost down to less than $50. It began as a simple class project for graduate students of Fletcher, who is Associate Professor of Bioengineering."

10 practical uses for your camera phone

Blorge.com's 10 practical uses for your cameraphone. They all make sense. But this one caught my attention:

If you have a suspicious wife, husband, girlfriend or boyfriend and have to stay late at work, take a snapshot of yourself next to a clock and calendar, then MMS the photo to your sweetheart.

Picture Message of Escaped Terrorist Sent to 3.9m mobiles

Singapore's three mobile phone operators - SingTel, StarHub and MI - are sending out picture messages of an escaped fugitive to 3.9 million subscribers, police said, in a massive manhunt.

Terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari acted alone when he escaped a detention centre last Wednesday.

More than 54,000 posters and leaflets with the Mas Selamat's pictures and description have been placed at train and bus stations, shopping malls, housing estates and distributed by grassroots leaders and community volunteers. They urge members of the public to call the police if they spot him."

[SMS Text News via The Straits Times. Picture from Reuters]

N-Gage to make use of your phone's camera and GPS capabilities

NokNok interviewed Will Shen, the head of Production for N-Gage in North America who revealed that "the Finnish company intends to develop games which will make use of the imaging and GPS capabilities on a handset.

Shen explained an N-Gage game could potentially use clever techniques to interpret the histogram extracted from a photograph to interact with characters in a game. Shen’s example being, “a monster you could feed photographs”, presumably requiring you to take shots of appropriate real-life items while you’re out and about.

According to ta href="http://noknok.tv/news/exclusive-n-gage-camera-games-and-gps-action/">NokNok, Shen also said that Nokia is seriously looking at location-based gaming and stressed that the concept is not a gimmick, but one which focuses on innovation."

[via Asia C/net]

One in five babies has social network profile

Parents in the UK are increasingly using mobile phones and the internet to both announce and give their babies an online presence in the world, according to research carried out by Orange. TechRadar reports.

"Orange discovered that one in five new parents sent a camera-phone image of their newborn baby to friends and family within 10 minutes of it being born. Meanwhile, up to half took pictures of their babies within an hour. The survey questionned 1,000 new and expectant parents.

Orange also discovered that one in five parents has created a social networking profile for their baby – sometimes before it’s even been born. That’s over 57,000 babies with a Facebook, MySpace or Bebo page.

According to the research, it's not just newborns being 'snapped' either. One in seven parents have sent pictures of their unborn baby’s ultrasound scan via their mobile or email. That means over 100,000 babies every year are seen by friends and family before they're even born."

Top Photos Older Japanese People Take With Their Cellphones

Japanese TV show Ranking Paradise went to Sugamo, a shopping area of Tokyo that is sometimes called “Harajuku for old people,” asking pedestrians over the age of 50 to show off photos they recently took with their camera phones. [via Japan Probe]

Top 7 cellphone pics taken by older people in Sugamo:

1. Landscapes / Scenery
2. Grandchildren
3. Oneself
4. Pets
5. Akihiro Miwa (it’s lucky to have his picture)
6. Memorable Food
7. Illuminations

Watch video.

Cellphone can read to you from pictures it takes

For a blind or visually impaired person, the Nokia N98 offers great promise: It's a liberating day-to-day tool that grants access to printed materials not otherwise easily available. USA Today reports.

"A sightless person can use the phone to snap a picture of a menu, book, printed receipt or business card. Software on the phone processes the words on those items and reads the text aloud in a synthesized voice. The device can even let a blind person know if paper currency is a $5 or a $20 bill.

The candy-bar-shaped Nokia houses an extremely capable digital camera - 5 megapixels, auto-focusing, high-intensity flash. But it's the character-recognition and text-to-speech software from KNFB Reading Technology that makes it so powerful. KNFB is a joint venture of the National Federation of the Blind and Kurzweil Technologies."

A collaborative animation competition

To help create a new animation for Nokia stores, Universal Everything is throwing a collaborative animation competition.

To enter, all you need to do is take pictures of you, or anyone you know, holding a blank piece of paper. Upload the pics to the contest's Flickrsite and the design wizards at Universal Everything will draw cell animation onto each blank frame.

The aim is to engage thousands of people around the world and create a truly global animation project that keeps growing and growing.

The contributor who gets the most frames into the final animation wins a Nokia N95 8GB. That's good, but the real prize would be getting to see your shot in one of Universal Everything's industry-leading animations.

[via Josh Spear]

SnapTell Launches Mobile Movie Explorer

SnapTell made its Mobile Movie Explorer available for general consumer use today.

Consumers can now use their camera phone to easily Snap a picture of a DVD cover, send the picture to SnapTell using MMS messaging and get back information about the movie on their cell phone.

The information consumers receive about movies on their cell phones includes reviews, DVD prices, run times, description of the movie and a link to Amazon to buy the movie.

[press release via NewTeeVee]

Mobile phone photos rescue lost hikers

Images sent to park rangers from a mobile phone were instrumental in rescuing three people lost in rugged country in a Victorian national park, reports News.com.au.

"A 46-year-old man was hiking with his son and niece, both aged 14, in the Grampians National Park in western Victoria yesterday when they became disoriented.

The man, identified as Mark Valentine, called emergency services about 5.30pm last night and later sent photos of the area to Parks Victoria staff from his mobile phone.

Grampians National Park ranger Andrew Dennis said after scrutinising the photos he identified the mountain range in the background as Redman's Bluff.

Staff looked at other photos of the area to confirm the mountain range and used mapping software to home in on the trio's likely location.

They were able to concentrate the search area to about one square kilometre."

Astrophotography with an Apple iPhone

An advanced amateur astronomer, Michael Weasner, took a photograph of the full moon on Christmas Eve, 2007 with a Meade ETX telescope and an Apple iPhone.

This photograph, which is not the first instance of an astronomical photo with an Apple iPhone, nevertheless shows what an experienced amateur astronomer can do with a small telescope and the camera in Apple's mobile phone.

[via The MacObserver]

Czech CSSD to use mobile phones while electing president-press

Czech senior opposition Social Democrat (CSSD) deputies and senators may have to bring their photo-capable mobile phones with them to Prague Castle, the residence of Czech presidents, when the Czech parliament will be electing the new president in February, the daily Hospodarske noviny writes today.

"There is a possibility that the CSSD leadership will want to control whether CSSD legislators really voted for Jan Svejnar and not for incumbent President Vaclav Klaus with the help of photographs made by mobile phones, the paper says."

[via CeskéNoviny.cz]

Samsung G800 Stars in Opera ‘Nibelungenring'

Samsung's G800, a 5 mega-pixel camera phone with 3x optical zoom, is playing a key role in the opera ‘Wagners Nibelungenring for children’, reports Newswire Korea.

Cell phones have played in many concerts but "it is the first time a mobile phone is playing a key supporting role in an opera and is even mentioned in the official casting list.

Nibelungenring for Children has been playing at the Vienna State Opera from November 17, already attracting 1,000 audience. It plans to run until the end of this year.

“This independent play is meant to spark children's interest for Wagner’s world. With Samsung’s unique camera phone we're able to give a mobile phone an active role in an opera for the first time and thus create a link from virtual mythology to today’s reality," said Matthias von Stegmann.

... The SGH-G800 fulfills several roles in the play: It takes a picture of the sleeping Bruennhilde, it shows the picture to Siegfried and is therefore essential for the progression of the story.

Appeals Court says witness intimidated by camera phone photos

Pointing a camera phone at a witness waiting to testify in court amounts to intimidation. [via the The Associated Press]

"That's the ruling from the state Appeals Court in the case of a man awaiting trial on drug charges. David Casiano was convicted of witness intimidation last year after he pointed a camera phone at an undercover Boston police officer who was in Dorchester District Court to testify against him.

The officer said he was concerned that someone involved in drug dealing would recognize him if Casiano posted his photo on the Internet, which could put him and his family in danger."

Strictly No Photography website

Strictly No Photography, a website dedicated to nothing but photos taken inside places you're not supposed to take photos. Art galleries, government buildings, religious sites, science and technology exhibits, all user-submitted by characters with names like Sir Veillance.

[dump trumpet via Core77

Make it a safe Halloween

Parents who let their children go trick-or-treating alone might want to equip the candy-hunters with cell phones. That way they can call or text home to say “I’m on Second Street, heading toward the library” and parents will know exactly where they are. McAlester News-Capital offers some practical advice.

Cell phones have alarm clocks, which can be programmed to go off when it’s time for the trick-or-treaters to head home.

Also, emergency numbers can be pre-programmed into the phone so children can get help quickly.

“A cell phone is a great safety tool for kids during Halloween,” said Michael Edwards, director of sales for U.S. Cellular. “If you keep it fun for them, they’ll be more likely to use it. Invite children to use camera phones to take pictures of their friends’ costumes or their favorite decorations. Get kids interested in the phone and they’ll be more comfortable using it when they need to.”

Thrrum Visual Browser's 1-click Camphone Search

A new service called Thrrum Visual Browser sounds very much like MMS & Buy, blogged about a few days ago, MMS & Buy is a service launched by a music label that enables music fans to get information about music, simply by taking a photo of the CD case and sending it via MMS to their server.

Thrrum Visual Browser enables camera phone users to search and browse relevant information by simply pointing their camera phones at products and other objects of interest in their physical environment.

In their own words: - Books, billboards, product labels, restaurant menus.... With Thrrum Visual Browser and the included Cameraphone Search service, you can search and browse information related to the world around you with your camera phone. Thrrum Visual Browser provides 1-click access to the Web, comparison shopping, and more.

Thrrum Visual Browser software is available for download from www.thrrum.com.

[Press release ]

HP offering color-matching technology for cameraphones

Hewlett-Packard is turning turn mobile phones into shopping advisers with a color-matching prototype technology. cio reports.

"The Color Match mobile service technology combines color science, imaging science and mobile networking technology to match colors that complement each other and provide product advice over a cell phone.

Users take a photograph of themselves while holding a specialized color chart under their faces. The picture is sent using multimedia messaging service to an "advisory service" on a server. Software on the server seeks out corrections in the image; it locates the face, adjusts lighting and calibrates the color.

Based on the analysis, the advisory service sends a return short-message service recommending what cosmetic color and shades would best match the skin color. The service returned recommendations in a matter of seconds in the demonstration.

Among other applications, the service will be able to make recommendations to match and recommend colors for ties, pants and suits, Bhatti said. "Images can be taken with any cell phone camera, and the mobile service will work with any service provider."

Related article in ITPro

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who do I look like most of all?

Normally used for security purposes, face and image recognition technologies are making their way into other, more entertaining, fields. One service, kaocheki lets people send a digital photo of themselves via cell phone to find out which celebrity they most resemble. The Japan Times reports.

"Taking full advantage of the high-resolution camera phones that are everywhere in Japan, two-year-old mobile content provider J-Magic Inc. launched the service on a trial basis in late April. By early June, more than 22 million users had tried the service.

"I didn't expect it to become such a big hit," said Takuya Miyata, the 34-year-old founder and chief executive officer of J-Magic. "The popularity has spread through mixi (Japan's top social networking site) and blogs. I didn't do much promotion."

Japan tries cameraphone diet scheme

The AP reports that Japan has launched their own (government funded) version of myFood - a service offered in 2005 to Sprint camera phone users, enabling them to take a picture of the food they eat at each meal, and send it in for review by a nutritional advisor.

"Public health insurance offices in the Osaka region in western Japan have launched the service on a trial basis. About 100 heart patients signed up in the first year, followed by diabetes and obesity patients in the second.

Osaka is using a system developed by Asahi Kasei Corp., a Tokyo-based chemical and medical equipment manufacturer. The system is operating at about 150 health care providers and local governments around the country, company official Naoki Yoshimura said.

Nutritionists can work with photos from one day's meals to several weeks' worth, he said. Results come back in three days. Participants also can log onto a website to get more dietary information and upload photos from digital cameras."