Microsoft Hyperlapse for Android lets you easily create smooth time lapse videos

Microsoft has a new app on the Google Play store if you don’t mind enrolling in a beta test. It’s Hyperlapse, their video recording app that lets you easily create smooth time laps videos.

“Big deal, I can speed up any video” you might think, but there’s more at work here than a simple fast forward feature. Microsoft researches have created an algorithm that’ll make a 3D map of the landscape throughout an entire video and analyze each and every frame. From there, it selects the best frames that will make for the smoothest transitions throughout the timelapse and stitch them together.

What this does is eliminate the weird shaky camera effect you get from typical moving timelapse videos to create a smoother experience, and not one that’s “unwatchable” (by Microsoft’s standards).

The technology was only intended to be used in the professional scene, but Microsoft feels so good about what they have that they’re bringing it for consumers, creators and businesses alike. Those hoping to try it on Android can simply join the beta community on Google+ right here and enroll right here, though note you’ll have to be on at least Android 4.4 KitKat with the following smartphones:

• Samsung Galaxy S5


• Samsung Galaxy S6


• Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge


• Samsung Galaxy Note 4


• Nexus 5


• Nexus 6


• Nexus 9


• HTC One M8


• HTC One M9


• Sony Xperia Z3

Microsoft says they’ll look to add more over time, but this is it for the time being. Be sure to give it a go, and feel free to share your time lapse creations once you’ve taken it for a spin!

Brilliant idiot turns 16 years of selfies into epic time lapse [VIDEO]

He calls himself an idiot… we’d say he’s brilliant.

You’re featured in some devastatingly awesome photobombs. You’ve mastered the art of the duckface. Your front facing camera skills put the Selfie Stick to shame. Brag all you want… you’re a rookie compared to this guy who took 16 years of selfies and compiled them all into one mind-blowing video.

He calls himself an idiot (probably to generate more clicks) but I’d say moreso a self-depracating genius. It takes a lot of foresight and vision to start such a project before mobile phones were popular. Heck, before modern day selfies were invented.

The photos are creatively compiled on his site, allowing you to experience them in different ways:

His name is JK Keller and here are some interesting facts from this truly interesting project:

• He used Adobe After Affects Image Stabilization Plugin to maintain consistency across photos


• The project started out of spite when his girlfriend mocked his expensive purchase (Nikon Coolpix 900) by sarcastically asking, “Are you going to use it every day?”


• He was 22 years old when he started the project on October 1st, 1998


• He plans on continuing the project (and updating the videos) until the day he dies


• He doesn’t smile so the images are objective and similar across days, months, years, and decades


• There is 8 months of missing data during which time JK was a janitor in Antarctica. This is not a joke.

Now this is a guy with whom I’d like to sit down and have a cup of coffee. It’s one thing to have the idea, it’s another thing to start it, but consistently keeping at it for 16 years without some overarching motivation besides self interest? This is a real artist at work.

That being said, JK readily admits that he’s not the first to pursue such projects and acknowledges he won’t be the last. He has even compiled a list of related photo projects for those who enjoy his own.

Do you now feel inspired to dream up a project of long-term creativity of your own? Because I sure do…