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Playinghardball

(11,665 posts)
Wed Mar 21, 2012, 12:33 PM Mar 2012

MIT scientists have built a camera that can peer around corners

By overcoming a major challenge in optics and image processing, the feat could usher in devices that can survey a scene beyond the line of sight. The technological trick might be used to spot people who are hidden from view, or inspect components concealed deep inside machines.

At the heart of the technique is the ability to build up images from light waves that are scattered off surfaces like walls in almost every direction.

As an illustration of how it works, imagine hiding an object around a corner in a mirrored corridor. It might still be visible because light bounces off the object and is reflected cleanly off the mirrored walls and towards the observer.

But normal walls are not as shiny as mirrors. They scatter light diffusely, so any image is lost

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/20/mit-scientists-have-built-a-camera-that-can-peer-around-corners/

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MIT scientists have built a camera that can peer around corners (Original Post) Playinghardball Mar 2012 OP
Interesting hootinholler Mar 2012 #1
I wonder how close they are to actually producing these belcffub Mar 2012 #2

hootinholler

(26,449 posts)
1. Interesting
Wed Mar 21, 2012, 01:02 PM
Mar 2012

But putting the camera on a stick might be easier and cheaper

I was thinking wow reverse ray-tracing, but they are the light source since they're using a laser bounced around the corner to scan what's there and ray tracing the laser light. Pretty cool technique and I suppose it would work with non-visible parts of the spectrum.

belcffub

(595 posts)
2. I wonder how close they are to actually producing these
Wed Mar 21, 2012, 01:04 PM
Mar 2012

I first heard about the MIT around the corner camera probably 5-7 years ago... so far I have seen lots of articles and some demos under test conditions... but no camera that would work out in the wild... where there isn't a object at a perfect angle in the perfect place with a known distance to the object around the corder they are trying to photograph... are they any closer to an actual device that would work under real world conditions??

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