OUR INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICE

OUR INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICE : HEATO

Your phone can see in the dark and measure heat with this attachment

Phone cameras have gotten extremely powerful. The one in your phone right now can capture your kid's quick moves at the soccer game, take day-spanning time-lapses, and it probably has a chance to take a decent picture in low light. Maybe it can even stabilize the image to protect your photo from your shaky hands.

But it can't see in the dark, and it definitely can't help you see if you undercooked your food. The Heato let you do those things by turning your phone into an infrared camera.

Heato has been doing thermal imaging for decades. Its infrared cameras are used on military aircraft, by first responders, and it even provides the cameras that capture those wild thermal views of Formula One cars. the phone contains two cameras: one that sees infrared light, and one that sees visible light using a low-resolution, 640x480 CMOS sensor. The app embosses the edge detail captured by the visible light sensor and lays it over the thermal image in real time, giving detail to the colored blobs of infrared information.

You can use the Heato to get a live look at the difference in temperature range of a particular scene or object, or measure the temperature of a particular spot. The app has photo, video, time-lapse, and timer settings, too. The most obvious applications seem to be in home improvement and repairs. You could use the Heato to identify or locate a leak, spot drafty windows and doors, and see through smoke and fog. Because of its ability to see in the dark, it could also be used as a security monitoring device.

Impressive camera technology is only as good as the corresponding software. The Heato app works just fine and it hides a few clever tricks. For example, any time you measure the temperature when you take a picture, you can drag a crosshair icon around to read the temperature of other objects in that image after the fact. You can also drag your finger across each image and slide between the thermal and regular views. There's an option to set a custom temperature range, too, which is helpful if you're looking for specific variations in heat.