Evercam looks to make control of surveillance cameras much more fine grained. Global Alliance for Genomics and Health launches new API for sharing genomics data. Plus: Ford holding auto app developer conference, and Yo! accuses Oi! of copyright infringement (really!).
Evercam's API Extends Control and Individualizes it Across Multiple Surveillance Cameras
Evercam is an API that allows for control of any camera that can connect to the Internet. This solves a long standing problem with closed circuit TV (CCTV): it was built to be just that, "closed circuit". That legacy design makes both control and sharing of the data stream from the cameras difficult.
Once a camera is connected to the Internet, the problems change. Who controls it and who gets to see the data becomes a security issue--and an issue of extracting meaning from the data. As Peter Flanagan reports in the Independent, these issues extend far beyond what we think of as traditional surveillance tied to law and order issues:
Using Evercam though, the person in charge can say "Show me the production line when it stopped", or if there was an issue with a specific product, see tape of every copy of that product before it left the factory.
More info on the current list of apps and the API, which is currently in beta, is available.
New Genomics API Looks to Make Sharing Genomic data Seamless
Genomics started as a race to map the human genome, a huge and costly undertaking to catalog billions of pieces of data. Now that it can be done quickly and cheaply, the emerging issue becomes comparing and manipulating mountains of data from an explosive growth in the maps of individuals.
A new API from the Global Alliance for Genomics and health (GA4GH) now connects data from over 200 biomedical research institutions. David Haussler is Co-Chair of the Global Alliance’s Data Working Group and Scientific Director of the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute. He framed the API's contribution this way:
This new Genomics API is an exciting step toward interoperability in genomic data. It advances the Global Alliance’s mission of enabling the sharing of genomic and clinical data to improve human health. Because this new API lets researchers work consistently with genomic data across institutions and platforms, it will help realize the benefits that come from large-scale genomic data sharing, allowing us to find the needle in the haystack for patients with rare diseases.
The API documentation notes that it is built as a Web Service for interoperability. From there links can be found for the API on Github and usage examples.
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