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InFlux: ABenchmark for Self-Calibration of Dynamic Intrinsics of Video Cameras

Neural Information Processing Systems

Accurately tracking camera intrinsics is crucial for achieving 3D understanding from 2D video. However, most 3D algorithms assume that camera intrinsics stay constant throughout a video, which is often not true for many real-world in-the-wild videos. A major obstacle in this field is a lack of dynamic camera intrinsics benchmarks-existing benchmarks typically offer limited diversity in scene content and intrinsics variation, and none provide per-frame intrinsic changes for consecutive video frames. In this paper, we present Intrinsics in Flux (InFlux), a real-world benchmark that provides per-frame ground truth intrinsics annotations for videos with dynamic intrinsics. Compared to prior benchmarks, InFlux captures a wider range of intrinsic variations and scene diversity, featuring 143K+ annotated frames from 386 high-resolution indoor and outdoor videos with dynamic camera intrinsics. To ensure accurate per-frame intrinsics, we build a comprehensive lookup table of calibration experiments and extend the Kalibr toolbox to improve its accuracy and robustness. Using our benchmark, we evaluate existing baseline methods for predicting camera intrinsics and find that most struggle to achieve accurate predictions on videos with dynamic intrinsics. For the dataset, code, videos, and submission, please visit https://influx.cs.princeton.edu/.


Inside the FBI's battle to keep drones out of World Cup sites amid heightened terrorism fears

Los Angeles Times

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Inside the FBI's battle to keep drones out of World Cup sites amid heightened terrorism fears Drones were seized at SoFi Stadium and the L.A. Coliseum. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . As World Cup soccer fans cheer for their teams in Los Angeles and stadiums across the nation, FBI agents are working in command centers, watching out for unauthorized flying objects.


Inspired by Ukraine, and worried by China: Taiwan teaches its citizens how to fly drones

The Guardian

I n a small, crowded room in Taipei, Pan Chien-chin is trying to keep a drone hovering steadily. Imagining himself flying a plane, he gently nudges controller joysticks to guide the insect-like device as it hums through the air. Cheers break out as Pan, who has never flown a drone before, steers it around a rectangular course marked by traffic cones without crashing. Around him are about two dozen fellow trainees, all signed up for the same course: Taiwan's first civil defence drone training programme. "The war in Ukraine has really changed how drones are used," says Pan, 48, a food company worker. "It's like giving myself another skill, something I can use if it's ever needed one day," he adds.


VolleyBots: ATestbed for Multi-Drone Volleyball Game Combining Motion Control and Strategic Play

Neural Information Processing Systems

Robot sports, characterized by well-defined objectives, explicit rules, and dynamic interactions, present ideal scenarios for demonstrating embodied intelligence. In this paper, we present VolleyBots, a novel robot sports testbed where multiple drones cooperate and compete in the sport of volleyball under physical dynamics.


What we know about US sea drone used in helicopter crew rescue mission

BBC News

A sea drone was used to save two crew members of a downed US army helicopter off the coast of Oman earlier this week, according to the US military - making it the first publicly known instance of an unmanned vessel being used to conduct a rescue mission. President Donald Trump said the apache helicopter was shot down by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz - the dangerous waterway which has been largely blocked off to shipping since the start of the Iran war. The two soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition, US Central Command (Centcom) said. BBC Verify has examined what we know about the drone boat and how the mission took place. What is the US sea drone?


Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time

New Scientist

Fully autonomous drones with no human oversight have killed soldiers on the battlefield for the first time. This is according to a senior figure in the Ukrainian defence industry, marking a watershed moment in warfare. The one-off test involved 10 AI-controlled "Terminator" drones on the front line of the Ukraine war. "We tried it," says drone-maker Alexander Kokhanovskyy, who supplied the technology and spoke to at a press event hosted by the Ukrainian embassy. We never implemented it [more widely]." The test took place two years ago and involved quadcopter drones that were programmed to fly towards the front line, cover between 3 and 5 kilometres over around 10 minutes and then engage "Terminator mode", in which an AI model searches for and intercepts targets. "We just launch it and we know everything will be dead - everything that will be found there in this particular area will be dead," says Kokhanovskyy. "There is no connection to the drone at all, you cannot see the video, ...


Baltic states fear Russia-Ukraine war spillover after drone incursions

Al Jazeera

Recent incidents heighten anxieties that hybrid warfare tactics could trigger military confrontation with Russia. Lithuanian armed special forces and members of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union take part in a military exercise in central Lithuania [File: Nils Adler/Al Jazeera] A member of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union joins in military exercises in central Lithuania [File: Nils Adler/Al Jazeera] Along the forests and marshlands that separate the Baltic states from Russia and Belarus, workers are digging anti-tank ditches, pouring concrete bunkers and erecting rows of dragon's teeth - jagged concrete obstacles designed to slow and channel advancing armour - to buy precious time in the event of an attack. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 reignited old fears in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where memories of Soviet rule remain close to the surface. In the years since, those fears have been channelled into preparation. Defence budgets have surged, military exercises have intensified, and new fortifications have emerged even as daily life largely continues as normal.


Sea drone rescues US army helicopter crew near Strait of Hormuz

BBC News

Two crew members of a US army helicopter that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday were rescued by an American sea drone, US officials have told CBS News, the BBC's media partner. It was the first such operation carried out by US forces, the officials added. US Central Command (Centcom) earlier said the two soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition after their AH-64 Apache helicopter went down near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters. It was not immediately clear whether the aircraft had developed a mechanical or any other technical problem, or had been downed by Iranian fire. The incident is being investigated.


How Putin became master of the image

BBC News

Throughout his time as Russian President, Vladimir Putin has been alert to the power of visual imagery. The first time I interviewed him in 2001, an aide swooped in just before the cameras went live and snatched away the small water glasses on the table in front of us. Why did you do that? We wouldn't want anyone to think they were for vodka, came the reply. And anyway, we can't risk a glass spilling live on TV.


'No-one feels safe now': Residents of Romanian city hit by drone share fears

BBC News

'No-one feels safe now': Residents of Romanian city hit by drone share fears In some parts of Europe, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine can feel like a distant threat. But in Romania, that war is right next door and increasingly dangerous. In Galati, there is an apartment block with a hole in the roof that proves it. Residents have just begun returning to check on their homes, after an attack drone slammed into the building early on Friday as dozens of people slept. It sparked a fire and panic.