Show HN: TakeMeasure – Make your phone a ruler | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: TakeMeasure – Make your phone a ruler

play.google.com

35 pointslubos_26 comments

I'm not sure I understand how this works unless all objects being measured are on the same surface as the reference object. Take for example, this image https://lh3.ggpht.com/n3-JnvRAOTqSOwD7UriOo7ooPGQ0Nf8wueiK_U...

Imagine measuring a distance vertically along the side of the window. Now imagine a second image in wich, instead of a window, there is just more of the (now larger) desk. If you were to draw the same line in the same location in the second image, the actual distance of the underlying object would be different. Does TakeMeasure somehow account for this? I would assume the answer is no, and if so that would still make for a useful app, but then I saw this "TakeMeasure allows you to measure dimensions of any small or large objects that fit into your camera view. "

Indeed. You can measure objects in the plane of the reference object, but you are allowed to take the picture from any angle.

It's a fruitful feedback, just updated the description text in app's listing. Thank you.

I can take photos but the second and third tabs are empty; i can't see/set a reference. I tried ensuring the photo had a uk banknote in it (does it matter which?) but it made no difference.

What is your phone model? I'll have a look and try to release an update. You can use any UK banknote.

(aside: one would expect a picture taking using camera app to be fairly trivial, but it is actually very challenging on Android, where each vendor implements it with its own little subtleties)

Sony Xperia Z3 (recently upgraded to marshmallow 6.0.1)

Just a quick check, if you click on three dots on top right and go to "About", does it say TakeMeasure 12?

I reproduced similar problem in Xperia Z3 on 5.1.1, which I was able to fix and release. Unfortunately 6.0.1 was not on device cloud. Nevertheless, I think there are good chances that update to v13 will fix the issue, in any case, please let me know.

Yeah that's fixed it, thanks.

My wallet folds notes but the app is accurate if I try and make them as flat as possible first.

Thanks for posting this. It is rather interesting to play with and has a good interface.

I have a couple issues though. First I can't zoom in enough to be very precise with the placement and measurement. It would be nice if the zoom was not limited so much. Also, using a Samsung S5 I am having some trouble getting an accurate measurement. I put a ruler and a us letter paper in the same plane and took a photo at about a 30 degree angle. I'm seeing about a 12.7" measurement on a 12" ruler.

Thank you for your feedback. I will consider increasing the zoom level. Would you like to share your picture so we could investigate the precision? (customers@pressburg.co.uk)

This is very nice. I'm experiencing some problems taking the picture directly by the camera (Nexus 5; 6.0.1). It takes a picture but the picture is empty or broken (but still shows up in the gallery). As a workaround, it's possible to make pictures by the default Camera app and then select the picture from the gallery.

Anyway, I think it's quite useful and surprisingly precise (+/- 1%). If I may make a feature request, I'd like to see more reference sheet sizes, e.g. the full A0-6 range.. :)

Hi tjelen, thank you for your comments and suggestions! I have made the camera issue fixed and released to production. You should get an update pushed soon.

I am taking A0 - A6 request into consideration. Quite a few people were asking for a custom reference definition in the app. Might do it in one update if time allows in the future.

http://pressburg.co.uk/takemeasure to see it in action.

That's great, but why is it incompatible with my device?

(Sorry, I'm not well-versed in these Android stuff, but my phone is fairly new and running Kitkat.)

Hi, glad you like it! Let me have a look, have you tried to search for "TakeMeasure" directly in your phone? Might also be regional availability, what phone do you have / which region are you in?

Incompatible for me as well, which makes no sense at all. I live in the Netherlands and use a Samsung Galaxy S5.

I don't see why you're doing regional blocking for a free app. Even for paid apps it doesn't make a lot of sense. Would've loved to try this out.

Fixed. It should become available as soon as play store updates the page. Best regards.

Thanks, will give the app a try once I can install it, if I remember.

The Android Play Store has a wishlist feature - it's next to install on that webpage, as well as from within the Play Store app.

Very nice, thank you Ľuboši. Sorry about not rating it on GPlay, i am not allowed as it still requires G+ account for that :/

I love this kind of apps that interface to physical world. I have been using guitar tuners, BPM counters, noise and lux measuring apps and recently have been looking for RPM meter either by looking at spinning object or by counting LED flashes. Any suggestions?

Thank you for the positive feedback! Instead of rating you could show your friends :p It is an interesting idea to measure RPM, but I am not knowledgeable about a concrete app. Best regards.

iOS version - search for "TakeMeasure" in AppStore or click at: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/takemeasure/id1035169494

I got the iOS version and I was having trouble aligning the corners on the reference object. When I lifted my finger the crosshair would jump slightly with it.

Is it possible to offer edge detection or corner snapping?

I also got much better results when I zoomed as far as possible into the image to align each corner. I think that would be a helpful tip in the app when aligning.

Good news is that we have recently started playing with corner detection algorithms for snapping, we have first results, it looks promising, after little bit of more work, there might be an update in the near future.

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