Freedom for hyperspectral development

The hyperspectral operating environment is an interdisciplinary crosslink between stakeholders like scientists, application engineers and instrument providers.

As a consequence stakeholders of hyperspectral imaging have a general platform to interact with each others and to share encapsulated know-how.

For example, a camera manufacturer or machine builder offer its own classification plugin which works exclusively with its own hardware. On the other hand side scientists encapsulate their algorithms and provide them to industrial partners.

In computer software, an operating environment is the environment in which users run application software. The environment consists of a user interface provided by an applications manager and usually an application programming interface (API) to the applications manager. An operating environment is usually not a full operating system but is a form of middleware that rests between the OS and the application. For example, the first version of Microsoft Windows, Windows 1.0, was not a full operating system, but a GUI laid over DOS albeit with an API of its own.

Deploying hyperspectral technology nowadays is tricky and time-consuming. Especially the cooperation of involved experts of different disciplines is limited due to a missing common base. Perception Park has started to develop a layer between the operating system and the end-application, enabling the first operating environment for hyperspectral technology.

The figure above shows typical shareholders of the hyperspectral community. Here the operating environment allows an interdisciplinary cross-linking.

The layer model above shows the operating system, operating environment and the application layer.

The provided plug-in framework architecture allows the community to extend functionality on their own. This results in a common base expandable by experts and customizable by end-users. Such concepts are known from web browsers (add-ons) or mobile devices (app store). Since the operating environment supports real-time processing as well as the integration of hardware and/or software as plug-in, all necessities for new concepts of application are fulfilled.

The image above summarizes important components of the operating environment.