ghosthamlet/simplecv

The Open Source Framework for Machine Vision

SimpleCV

Make computers see with SimpleCV, the Open Source Framework for Vision

SimpleCV is an interface for Open Source Machine Vision, using OpenCV and the Python programming language.
It provides a consise, readable interface for cameras, image manipulation, feature extraction, and format conversion. Our mission is to give casual users a comprehensive interface for basic machine vision functions and an elegant programming interface for advanced users.

We like SimpleCV because:

• Even beginning programmers can write simple machine vision tests
• Cameras, video files, images, and video streams are all interoperable
• Information on image features can be extracted, sorted and filtered easily
• Manipulations are fast, with easy to remember names
• Linear algebra is strictly optional

Here is the simplecv "hello world":

import SimpleCV
SimpleCV.Camera().getImage().save("picture.jpg")

For more code snippets, we recommend the cookbook or looking at our example scripts in SimpleCV/examples

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Installation

If you haven't worked with OpenCV or Scipy before, your best bet is to get one of our all-in-one Superpacks from SourceForge: http://sf.net/projects/simplecv/files/

You will absolutely need:

• OpenCV installed for your platform http://opencv.willowgarage.com/wiki/Instal lGuide
• SciPY/Numpy installed for your platform http://www.scipy.org/Download
• Python Imaging Library http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/
• PyGame for drawing and interfaces http://pygame.org

Once you have all the required libraries installed::

easy_install simplecv

If you need more help, look at the installation docs: http://simplecv.org/doc/installation.html

Easiest Method

The easiest method to install SimpleCV is with the 1-click installers located at http://www.simplecv.org. These installers should install all the necessary libraries you need to get SimpleCV up and running easily.

Easy Method

If you need more specific instructions per platform there is: http://www.simplecv.org/doc/installation.html

Optional Libraries

Device Support:

• OpenKinect/freenect http://openkinect.org/wiki/Main_Page

Barcode reading:

• Zxing http://code.google.com/p/zxing/
• python-zxing https://github.com/oostendo/python-zxing

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Videos - Tutorials and Demos

Video tutorials and demos can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/user/IngenuitasOfficial

or check out: http://www.simplecv.org

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SimpleCV Interactive Shell

Once you have SimpleCV installed, you can use it in a specialized iPython shell. This pre-loads all the symbols and gives you some extra functions and macros for using SimpleCV.

To run the SimpleCV shell, from the installation directory type:

python simplecv.py