λvue Sample GUI User Manual
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The λvue SDK User Manual is the easiest way to integrate application with λvue SDK on Linux, Mac and Windows.

The SDK user guide is still under construction, so the content of this document may change over time.

1. Introduction

This part gives you an overview of the technologies described in this guide.

1.1. What is λ·vue

Quanta Research Institute and MIT researchers collaborated to develop λvue that amplifies color changes and movements in video that are invisible to the naked eye. The λvue allows you to 'see' a person’s pulse by magnifying the color of the person’s skin, and to 'see' a person breathing by amplifying the subtle changes in movement.

Magnification enhances small movements in the source video. It works best for periodic changes such as breathing or pulse. This technique is designed to expose very small changes when the rest of the image is very still.

Quanta Research Institute has created this software development kit so that you can experiment with the λvue on your own videos and webcam.

For more information on the technology, please contact QRI ( info@lambda.qrilab.com ).

1.2. About this guide

This guide covers the basic instructions needed to install λvue SDK and verify that a application with λvue SDK can run on each supported platform.

These instructions are intended to be used on a clean installation of a supported platform.

2. Linux

2.1. System Requirements

The λvue SDK development environment relies on tight integration with the host development environment, including the host compiler and C runtime libraries, and is therefore only supported on distribution versions that have been qualified for this λvue SDK.

2.1.1. Minimum System Requirements

  • 2 GHz or faster 64-bit (x64) processor

  • 4 GB RAM

  • 50 MB available hard disk space

  • Available network environment

2.1.2. Distribution Tested

  • Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit

2.2. Prerequistes

Some actions must be taken before the λvue SDK can be installed on each platform.

  • Verify the system is running a supported version of OS

  • Verify the system has available network environment

  • Verify the system has compiler installed

2.2.1. Ubuntu

Verify You Have a Supported Version of Linux

The λvue SDK is only supported on some specific distributions of Linux.

To determine which distribution and release number you’re running, type the following at the command line : 

uname -m && cat /etc/*release | grep -i DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION

You should see output similar to the following, modified for your particular system : 

x86_64
DISTRIB_RELEASE="Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS"

The x86_64 line indicates you are running on a 64-bit system. The remainder gives information about your distribution.

Verify the System Has Compiler Installed

The g compiler is required for development using the λvue SDK. It is not required for running applications. It is generally installed as part of the Linux installation, and in most cases the version of g installed with a supported version of Linux will work correctly.

To verify the version of g++ installed on your system, type the following on the command line : 

g++ --version

If an error message displays, you need to install the development tools from your Linux distribution or obtain a version of g++ and its accompanying toolchain from the Web.

You can type following at the command line to get g++ : 

sudo apt-get install build-essential
Verify the System Has Available Network Environment

When you install λvue SDK, installer will check your license permession by network. Please make sure you have available network environment on your system.

To check the available network environment on your system, you can open your browser to check out if your system can access our website .

2.3. Installation

2.3.1. Ubuntu

If you have license for using λvue SDK, You will get a package like this : lambdavue-sdk_1.0.8-1_amd64.deb

  1. You can launch the lambdavue-sdk_1.0.8-1_amd64.deb by package management or type command line

    • Package management

      Double click the lambdavue-sdk_1.0.8-1_amd64.deb and click install on package management.

    • Command line 

      sudo dpkg -i lambdavue-sdk_1.0.8-1_amd64.deb

  2. Enter your informations and activation code

  3. Follow the instructions to finish installation

    In Registration phase, You need to enter the activation code that get from the purchase page on the Web site.

After Installation, The λvue SDK will be installed in /opt/LambdaVue . This directory contains the following :

  • doc : the λvue SDK documents

  • include : the header files needed to compile applications

  • lib : the library files needed to link with applications

  • sample : a simple c++ code that use λvue SDK

2.4. Development

Once the λvue SDK is installed correctly, you can develop your application with λvue SDK. Following sections will teach you how to compile sample code with λvue SDK.

2.4.1. Ubuntu

After Installation, you can find LambdaVueConsole.cpp in /opt/LambdaVue/sample and type the following at the command line : 

sudo cp /opt/LambdaVue/sample/LambdaVueConsole.cpp ~
cd ~
g++ -o LambdaVueConsole LambdaVueConsole.cpp \
    -I/opt/LambdaVue/include/ -L/opt/LambdaVue/lib/ \
    -lMagEngine -lavformat -lavcodec -lavutil -lswscale \
    -lcurl -lgomp

+ NOTE: If you compile the sample under /opt/LambdaVue/sample folder, make sure you have enough permission. We suggest you copy sample code to your workspace first, then compile the sample code.

The builds should produce no error message. The resulting binaries will appear under the same directory of LambdaVueConsole.cpp called LambdaVueConsole .

Once you compile done, you can download our sample video from following URL and use this video to test λvue SDK by typing following at the command line : 

./LambdaVueConsole -F tutorial.mp4 -w 2 -O output.file
You can use '-h' to see more detail.

3. Mac OS

3.1. System Requirements

The λvue SDK development environment relies on tight integration with the host development environment, including the host compiler and C runtime libraries, and is therefore only supported on distribution versions that have been qualified for this λvue SDK.

3.1.1. Minimum System Requirements

  • 2 GHz or faster 64-bit (x64) processor

  • 4 GB RAM

  • 50 MB available hard disk space

  • Available network environment

3.1.2. OS Tested

  • OS X 10.9 or later

3.2. Prerequistes

Some actions must be taken before the λvue SDK can be installed on each platform.

  • Verify the system is running a supported version of OS

  • Verify the system has available network environment

  • Verify the system has compiler installed

Verify You Have a Supported Version of Mac OS

The λvue SDK require an Intel-based Mac running Mac OSX 10.9 or later. To check which version you have, go to the Apple menu on the desktop and select About This Mac.

Verify the System Has Compiler Installed

A supported version of Xcode must be installed on your system and the latest version of Xcode can be installed from the Mac App Store.

Verify the System Has Available Network Environment

When you install λvue SDK, installer will check your license permession by network. Please make sure you have available network environment on your system.

To check the available network environment on your system, you can open your browser to check out if your system can access our website .

3.3. Installation

If you have license for using λvue SDK, You will get a package like this : LambdaVue Mac SDK_1.0.8.dmg

  1. Open LambdaVue Mac SDK_1.0.8.dmg

    You may get a warning message about “LambdaVue Mac SDK_1.0.8.mpkg can’t be opened because it is from unidentified developer.”. By default Apple has changed the security settings to only allow installation of apps from the Mac App Store and identified developers.

    • To change this permanently or temporarily go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy.

    • On the General Tab click the little lock in the lower left corner to unlock the general preference pane.

    • Then select the Anywhere radio button beneath Allow applications downloaded from.

  2. Launch the λvue Mac SDK_1.0.8.mpkg

    Installer will check if your system has libav library installed in /usr/local/lib . You need to install libav first.

  3. Read and accept the EULA

  4. Enter your informations and activation code

    In Registration phase, You need to enter the activation code that get from the purchase page on the Web site.

  5. Follow the instructions to install SDK

  6. Once the installations complete, click "next" to move to the install finished screen.

  7. Click "close" to close the installer

After Installation, The λvue SDK will be installed in /Library/LambdaVue . This directory contains the following :

  • doc : the λvue SDK documents

  • sdk :

    • include : the header files needed to compile applications

    • lib : the library files needed to link with applications

  • sample : a simple c++ code that use λvue SDK

3.4. Development

Once the λvue SDK is installed correctly, you can develop your application with λvue SDK. Following sections will teach you how to compile sample code with λvue SDK.

After Installation, you can find LambdaVueConsole.cpp in /Library/LambdaVue/sample and type the following at the command line : 

cp LambdaVueConsole.cpp /your/workspace/…
cd /your/workspace/…
gcc -stdlib=libstdc++ -o LambdaVueConsole LambdaVueConsole.cpp \
    -I/Library/LambdaVue/sdk/include/ \
    -L/Library/LambdaVue/sdk/lib/ \
    -lMagEngine -lstdc++
If you compile the sample under /Library/LambdaVue/sample folder, make sure you have enough permission. We suggest you copy sample code to your workspace first, then compile the sample code.

The builds should produce no error message. The resulting binaries will appear under the same directory of LambdaVueConsole.cpp called LambdaVueConsole .

Once you compile done, you can download our sample video from following URL and use this video to test λvue SDK by typing following at the command line : 

./LambdaVueConsole -F tutorial.mp4 -w 2 -O output.file
You can use '-h' to see more detail.

4. Windows

4.1. System Requirements

The λvue SDK development environment relies on tight integration with the host development environment, including the host compiler and C runtime libraries, and is therefore only supported on distribution versions that have been qualified for this λvue SDK.

4.1.1. Minimum System Requirements

  • 2 GHz or faster 64-bit (x64) processor

  • 4 GB RAM

  • 50 MB available hard disk space

  • Available network environment

4.1.2. OS Tested

  • Windows 7 32-bit / 64-bit

    In Windows system, you need to compile with MinGW-32 or MinGW-w64-i686 and it can run on 64-bit environment.

4.2. Prerequistes

Some actions must be taken before the λvue SDK can be installed on each platform.

  • Verify the system is running a supported version of OS

  • Verify the system has available network environment

  • Verify the system has compiler installed

Verify You Have a Supported Version of Windows

The λvue SDK supported both 64-bit and 32-bit version of Windows® 7. To check which version you have please follow the steps below.

  1. Click on the Start button and then Control Panel .

  2. Click on the System and Security link.

  3. In the System and Security window, click on the System link.

Verify the System Has Compiler Installed

In order to develop your application with λvue SDK on Windows, you need to install the MinGW enviorment and a few tools.

We recommend to use the MinGW-w64/MSys2 and install the gcc compiler.

  1. Follow the installation steps listed on MSYS2’s website

  2. Update the ststem package with: 

    pacman --needed -Sy bash pacman pacman-mirrors msys2-runtime

  3. Close MSYS2, run it again from Start menu and update the rest wuth: 

    pacman -Su

  4. Install the gcc compiler for MinGW-w64- i686

    The console sample code of LambdaVue SDK needs to build under the 32-bit gcc compiler. It does not matter which architecture of MinGW-w64/MSys2 you have installed. 
    pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-gcc
Verify the System Has Available Network Environment

When you install λvue SDK, installer will check your license permession by network. Please make sure you have available network environment on your system.

To check the available network environment on your system, you can open your browser to check out if your system can access our website .

4.3. Installation

If you have license for using λvue SDK, You will get a package like this : LambdaVueSDKInstaller.exe

  1. Double click on LambdaVueSDKInstaller.exe

  2. Read and accept the EULA

  3. Enter your informations and activation code

  4. Follow the instructions to install SDK

  5. Click Finish button and restart your computer

In Registration phase, You need to enter the activation code that get from the purchase page on the Web site.

After Installation, By default, the λvue SDK will be installed in C:\LambdaVueSDK . This directory contains the following :

  • doc : the λvue SDK documents

  • include : the header files needed to compile applications

  • lib : the library files needed to link with applications

  • sample : a simple c++ code that use λvue SDK

4.4. Development

Once the λvue SDK is installed correctly, you can develop your application with λvue SDK. Following sections will teach you how to compile sample code with λvue SDK.

After Installation, you can find LambdaVueConsole.cpp in C:\LambdaVueSDK\sample

  1. Open a MinGW-w64 Win32 shell from the Start menu and change directory to the installation path

  2. Type the following at the shell: 

    g++ -D_GLIBCXX_USE_CXX11_ABI=0 -std=c++0x \
    -o LambdaVueConsole LambdaVueConsole.cpp \
    -I/c/LambdaVueSDK/include/ \
    -L/c/LambdaVueSDK/lib/ \
    -lMagEngine \
    -lavformat -lavcodec -lavutil -lswscale

By defualt, the installation path will be /c/LambdaVueSDK/

The builds should produce no error message. The resulting binaries will appear under the same directory of LambdaVueConsole.cpp called LambdaVueConsole.exe .

Once you compile done, you can download our sample video from following URL and use this video to test λvue SDK:

To test the application you can open a Command Prompt window by clicking the Start button, clicking All Programs , clicking Accessories , and then clicking Command Prompt . And typing following at the command prompt: 

LambdaVueConsole.exe　-F tutorial.mp4 -w 2 -O output.file
You can use '-h' to see more detail.