Developer claims digicam system stops blinks

It might not rank up there with Red Eye as a snapshot flaw, but chances are that if you've taken lots of snaps with an eye-level flash, you've got plenty of pics of people with their eyes closed; some people just seem to blink every time the flash goes off, ruining an otherwise good shot. Masahide Kaneko feels your pain, and has developed a system that supposedly stops the blinks (and, no, it's not a Clockwork Orange-style eye clamp). The camera simply shoots 15 frames in a half-second once you hit the shutter button, and software does some quick image analysis, weeding out shots with blinkers. The developers say the software is able to pick the best shot even in group portraits of up to 30 people. Obviously, this takes a fair bit of processing muscle, but Kaneko, of the University of Electro-Communications in Japan, believes a commercial version could be available within two years. Until then, you can always try keeping the flash off — or just warn blinkers that they may just have to wear little Alex's eyepieces if they keep it up.