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Structured Light Sensor Camera


The Necromancer

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Like this one...

https://www.ghostshop.com/product/xcam-sls/?v=6cc98ba2045f

Possibly the most expensive piece of equipment in the Paranormal Investigator's arsenal, but does it really work?

The SLS XCam was created by Bill Chappell from Digital Dowsing and even he is the very first one to admit he doesn't understand how it does what it does:

...but oh wait, that is Ghost Adventures, a somewhat unreliable source of credible information, so lets go here:

(That is the video that finally convinced me that there's something to all this 'ghost' stuff that warrants further investigation...just how in the hell did the Chillseekers team pull that one off?)

Still unconvinced about the authenticity of the SLS Cam? then try this one out:

*Notice how the wireframe figure responds to Steve's every command?

...and just what is that camera mapping anyway that's 'not there'?

I mean, I can understand the 'anomalies'...but not when these little 'stick figure things' show up and do some pretty weird stuff....like jumping into an Andy's Box:

People are even capturing these things using the Xbox 360 Kinect,,,,is it a program/design flaw within these cameras to map-in extra people who are just not there?

There are many clips of these 'ghosts in the machine' on Youtube...but what are they?

As far as I am concerned they are 'something that needs further investigation'...so is there any way to debunk this equipment besides saying the videos that were made using it have been faked?

Thanks for your thoughts in advance.

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Sorry to disappoint you, but thats just another snake oil gadgetry, the same as applying random filters in image editing software, and getting "energy field around UFO" and similar nonsense.

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Thanks for the reply.

I understand that this piece of equipment may be 'quack gadgetry', but what I would really love to know is how are they faking all that evidence using it?

Yes, random filters and editing may be applied, but I'd like to know, in the case of this particular camera (not by comparison to others) just how to achieve it if I were to fake evidence using it myself - in order to just debunk and forget the whole thing.

Are there any members out there who have actually used one and can share their experiences both positive and negative?

Edited by The Necromancer
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Thanks for the reply.

I understand that this piece of equipment may be 'quack gadgetry', but what I would really love to know is how are they faking all that evidence using it?

Yes, random filters and editing may be applied, but I'd like to know, in the case of this particular camera (not by comparison to others) just how to achieve it if I were to fake evidence using it myself - in order to just debunk and forget the whole thing.

Are there any members out there who have actually used one and can share their experiences both positive and negative?

Without having program codes can't tell you what is done, but I can come up with many ways for everything that gadget does. Coloring certain areas? Use certain intensity range over certain area, and then paint it in red/blue/whatever color. Wireframe figure? Pin head in certain area (using some criteria, for example, brighter area on the wall), and then move limbs/torso (in restricted ways) using noise pixels. Just few educated guesses. Given time and wits, one can come up with more sophisticated algorithms, which will have nothing to do with ghosts
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Hmmm...I was after a little bit more technical information about this specific device, but like you said, you'd probably need the program codes for that.

Noise pixels? interesting concept...I wonder if the game "do as I say" is inbuilt into the device too?

However, at the risk of becoming even more pedantic than I am right now...

I await further input from a more wider and varied member-base.

Thank you.

Edited by The Necromancer
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Hmmm...I was after a little bit more technical information about this specific device, but like you said, you'd probably need the program codes for that.

Noise pixels? interesting concept...I wonder if the game "do as I say" is inbuilt into the device too?

However, at the risk of becoming even more pedantic than I am right now...

I await further input from a more wider and varied member-base.

Thank you.

As I said, one can come up with many algorithms.

As for "do as I say" - wishful thinking: throw away many instances when it "doesn't do as I say", and leave only one that may match "do as I say".

Here is how that gadget could be checked: put two of those at different locations (1-2 meters apart) and point in the same direction. Put on one gadget optical neutral filter (say, with transmittance 90% in broad range), and compare results. I can guarantee, you will see quite different outcome.

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As I said, one can come up with many algorithms.

As for "do as I say" - wishful thinking: throw away many instances when it "doesn't do as I say", and leave only one that may match "do as I say".

Here is how that gadget could be checked: put two of those at different locations (1-2 meters apart) and point in the same direction. Put on one gadget optical neutral filter (say, with transmittance 90% in broad range), and compare results. I can guarantee, you will see quite different outcome.

Now that was an interesting idea...yeah, somebody should do an experiment using two of these cameras and see if they are picking up exactly the same thing.

I wish there was a way I could record two spirit boxes at exactly the same time...that will be a 'work in progress' for me.

....and enjoy speaking with you as much as I do, I still want to hear from others too....assuming this topic isn't boring them...

Edited by The Necromancer
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  • 2 years later...

My husband used his in our home last night. The figures just show up on screen -- we don't put them there or have anything weird in the room (lighting, etc.).  We did it in almost complete darkness, and the figures moved, sometimes in response to what he asked of them (touch my wife's head, can you sit in my chair, etc.).  When the figure was sitting in my husband's chair, he asked if it could shake his hand -- it appeared to bend over, reaching out to him.  A little disconcerting, to say the least!   I was videoing the screen of the camera, so I have it on my phone. 

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On 10/20/2015 at 5:40 PM, The Necromancer said:

Like this one...

{link removed}

Possibly the most expensive piece of equipment in the Paranormal Investigator's arsenal, but does it really work?

The SLS XCam was created by Bill Chappell from Digital Dowsing and even he is the very first one to admit he doesn't understand how it does what it does..

So.... this is a camera *created* by this guy, and "he doesn't understand how it does what it does"???

Umm, NO.  There are several basic disciplines involved in camera design and operation, and ALL of them are very well understood.  Those are:

- the lens and transmission of light through it
This covers the optical, IR and UV transmission characteristics of the glass used in all the elements of the lens, along with its focusing characteristics and how the aperture design and setting affects the final image.  All of the technical specs for lenses are available and testable/verifiable.

- the sensor and how it collects light
This is about the sensitivity and bandwidth (IR/visible/UV) of the sensor.  It includes how the sensor behaves in low light (ie noise characteristics) as well as how it handles over exposure, along with effects like blooming (where adjacent pixels get affected by an overload) and bleeding (where a vertical or horizontal line of pixels may be affected), and so on.  Again, every sensor has its own published and easily testable/verifiable performance characteristics.

- the electronics of the camera
Effectively, the electronics of the camera are there to post-process the sensor readout.  That can include everything from simple brightness/contrast adjustments and color balancing/filtering, to edge enhancements, false coloration, posterising and pretty much all or any of the things you can do in programs like Photoshop.  All of these effects are  done via mathematical manipulation in programming, and those programs can do virtually anything you might want.  If the person who allegedly designs the camera doesn't know what is in those programs, then any scientific / analytical use would be completely out of the question.  Many of those processes add false detail, or subtract real detail, or use color and other enhancements to falsely 'paint' the image.

 

Think about all that for minute, and you might understand why someone like me wouldn't even bother visiting those pages.  This is a SCAM, purely for money making.  IF you have some images that have technical information that you find compelling, feel free to maybe start another thread.  If all you have is claims from someone selling something .. and that someone clearly isn't even vaguely familiar with *any* of the technicalities of what he is selling, then we have every right to just say "Fake"...

 

Also, from a scientific point of view, that sort of approach is *never* acceptable.  It's the same as playing with every Photoshop editing technique on an image.. UNTIL they find one they like and then post it as 'evidence'...?  No.  Just NO.

 

Edited by ChrLzs
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