Abstract: An access control apparatus having a protective covering configure to cover at least one of a subject or an object inside said protective covering is provided, where an opening is configured to provide access to the at least one of a subject or an object and a covering element configured to selectively cover said opening. A receiving element is provided on the protective covering and an activating device with an activating element is provided external to the protective covering.

Abstract: An apparatus and associated methodology are provided to obtain intrinsic hyper-spectral data cubes such that the intrinsic spectrum associated with each pixel of the field of view does not contain irrelevant spectral components. This is accomplished by obtaining a focused spatial image of the field of view and a diffuse image of the field of view with a slit arrangement including a translucent material that allows imaging of a focused spatial image with its associated spectrum and a diffuse image of the illumination with its associated spectrum at essentially the same time. Unprocessed intrinsic data cubes are generated from the obtained spectrum which are processed with the intrinsic methodology of the invention to generate an intrinsic hyper-spectral data cube of the field of view.

Abstract: The invention provides an equipment and a system that addresses the key concerns of eating/drinking in public while minimizing the chance of contamination of the eater and the public in general. The equipment can be a face mask, a face shield or a helmet that completely encloses at least the mouth and the nose of a person while providing intermittent access to the mouth without removal of the equipment. A mouth opening is provided on the equipment which is selectively blocked or unblocked by a covering element moved by a moving mechanism that moves the cover element to block or unblock the mouth opening. The mouth opening is selectively blocked or unblocked based on the distance between an activating element provided on a utensil or a wearable device and a receiving element provided on the equipment.

Abstract: An apparatus and method to generate intrinsic images without barrier filters and dichroic mirrors is provided. The method involves acquisition of an image of a focused field of view and a diffused image of the same field of view. The diffused image is obtained by placing a translucent material in the path between a camera and the field of view. The translucent material permits transmission of the illumination energy while diffusing the spatial details of the field of view, thus producing a featureless image of illumination intensities. The focused and diffused images are then processed pixel-by-pixel by to generate intrinsic images free of irrelevant illumination.

Abstract: An apparatus and method to generate intrinsic images without barrier filters and dichroic mirrors is provided. The method involves acquisition of an image of a focused field of view and a diffused image of the same field of view. The diffused image is obtained by placing a translucent material in the path between a camera and the field of view. The translucent material permits transmission of the illumination energy while diffusing the spatial details of the field of view, thus producing a featureless image of illumination intensities. The focused and diffused images are then processed pixel-by-pixel by to generate intrinsic images free of irrelevant illumination.

Abstract: A qualitative and quantitative method of determining the fluorescence threshold of an instrument and of determining whether the instrument is sensitive enough to measure the autofluorescence of a sample. The method utilizes non-fluorescent particles such a microbeads which are run on a flow cytometer. The peak channel position of the microbeads is used as the fluorescence threshold.