From Jason Kottke:
Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG ruminates on optical calibration targets, weird landscape relics scattered across military bases made to check the resolution of cold war era photograph-snapping spy planes. You can find one target on Google Maps here.
"Although I am truly fascinated by what sorts of optical landmarks might yet be developed for field-testing the optical capabilities of drones, as if the world might soon be peppered with opthalmic infrastructure for self-training autonomous machines, it is also quite intriguing to realize that these calibration targets are, in effect, ruins, obsolete sensory hold-overs from an earlier age of film-based cameras and less-powerful lenses. Calibrating nothing, they are now just curious emblems of a previous generation of surveillance technology, robot-readable hieroglyphs whose machines have all moved on."
Comments
Martin, Judging by where that is relating to Edwards Air Force Base and the bombing range I'm going to hazard a guess: NO!
China have been doing some interesting stuff for the last few years on i giant scale http://g.co/maps/aqdar
Would we be allowed to fly over to check our cameras, it's a bit of a hike for us in the UK though!
Got to admit, Edwards is sort of where you might expect to find it.
OK, read the third line again.
Bar, Bar, Bar, Bar, Bar, Bar....