Researchers at Technical University of Ilmenau in Germany have developed “diminished reality” software that can delete an object from live, full-motion video.

The software first reduces the resolution of the object, removes the image, and improves the result (similar to using a smudge tool in Photoshop), then incrementally increases the resolution, improving the result, until the original resolution is restored.

It repeats that for each frame of the video in real time, delivering the final image in 40 ms.

Applications include city planning, interactive film and television, and engineering design. The software is initially available for Windows.

It will be introduced at the International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) in Seoul, October 13 to 16.

Adapted from materials provided by Technische Universität Ilmenau