Covert sensing of objects around a corner may soon become a reality.
Aristide Dogariu, a University of Central Florida Pegasus Professor of Optics and Photonics, and his colleagues published a paper in Nature Communications this month demonstrating how to passively sense an object even when direct vision is impeded.
It’s a bit complicated, but the new sensing method the UCF team developed could lends itself to a number of practical applications, including use in defense, surveillance, search and rescue and medicine.
Imagine trying to see something around a corner. This is easily done with mirrors, but imagine that light from the object can only reach the detector after it bounces off a diffusing wall that acts like a shattered mirror. Even though light looks totally dispersed, some of its initial properties do not completely vanish. Dogariu and his colleagues were able to measure subtle similarities in the scattered light, undo the effects of this broken mirror, and get an idea of what lies around the corner.
“The fact that fundamental properties are not completely destroyed when light bounces off a diffuse medium like a wall can be used in so many different ways,” says Dogariu. “The question is, how much information you can still recover through this broken mirror-like surface.”
When a digital picture is taken, the spatial distribution of light across an object is mapped point by point, pixel by pixel, onto the plane of the camera. However, in its propagation from object to the camera, properties of light can be affected by what the light reflects off of. When it reflects off of a mirror, a clear image can be produced. But when it is reflected off of a shattered mirror, for example, the direction of light is altered and only a distorted version of the image can be seen.
Dogariu and his colleagues have found a way to describe how this measure of similarity between two points, called spatial coherence of light, transfers in a reflection from a diffuse wall. By learning how the light transforms, the researchers can determine where the light came from. Dogariu describes their findings as an aspect of light propagation that has simply been overlooked before. By undoing the effects of the diffusing wall, Dogariu and his colleagues have eliminated the need to control the light that illuminates the target object.
This is the first time that there has been a practical demonstration of passively detecting an object around a corner in this way.
The technique does not recover a complete image but collects more than enough information needed for task oriented surveillance.
“The potential of this technique goes beyond sensing,” says George Atia, a professor in EECS and member of a larger UCF team funded under Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Revolutionary Enhancement of Visibility by Exploiting Active Light-fields project that initiated this research. “Based on results of our recent simulations, we envision that non-line-of-sight, passive imaging of complex scenes could be achieved by data fusing that combines spatial coherence with additional intensity information.”
Until now, detection of objects around a corner has only been possible by emitting light toward the object and modifying some of its properties, say by sending a pulse of light, the light will bounce off the diffuse wall, onto the object, to the diffuse wall again, and back to the detector. The amount of time the light takes to return to the detector is then used to triangulate the position of the object. The problem with such methods is that the emission of light discloses the intent to see, which can be problematic in covert situations.
The new sensing method is not specific to light. It could be applied for example to infrared or microwaves radiation.
Learn more: New Understanding of Light Allows Researchers to See Around Corners
The Latest on: Seeing around corners
[google_news title=”” keyword=”seeing around corners” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Seeing around corners
- 'You turn the corner and it's like turning the clock back': Stockport's hidden idyllon April 26, 2024 at 11:08 pm
"When you turn the corner it's like turning the clock back," says Glennis Shea, 76, who moved onto the close three years ago. "Everyone that comes to see it says it's like stepping into a different ...
- 'The UFC See Something In Him Because They're Giving Him Aldo' - MMA Fighters Predict Jonathan Martinez vs. Jose Aldo At UFC 301on April 26, 2024 at 9:30 pm
Fighters are dropping their takes for the upcoming UFC return of the José Aldo. The former UFC Featherweight Champion will be competing in the Octagon for the ...
- See what the Kentucky Derby 2024 weather forecast looks like ahead of May 4on April 26, 2024 at 4:24 am
The Kentucky Derby is Saturday, May 4, 2024. As of April 26, Derby day is forecasted to be sunny with a high of 71 and a low of 55. The max UV index will be very high at 10 with east northeast winds ...
- He was stranded after a serious car accident. Then an old white pickup pulled overon April 25, 2024 at 8:49 pm
Rick Mangnall remembers the time he was helped after a serious car accident by two Hispanic men in an old white pickup track. This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain ...
- 9 Creative Ways to Style All Those Empty Corners in Your Homeon April 25, 2024 at 3:04 pm
Related: The Area Under Your Stairs Is Brimming With Design Potential—Here Are 9 Ideas to Inspire You ...
- To Make ‘Challengers’ Even More Sexy, Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes Knew He Needed to Make the ‘Corners of This Triangle Touch’on April 25, 2024 at 10:59 am
Challengers' screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes talked to IndieWire about a steamy scene he and director Luca Guadagnino added to his initial script.
- Steelers encounter NFL Draft class loaded with receivers, corners but lacking at other spotson April 24, 2024 at 1:00 pm
For the first time in NFL history, quarterbacks could be drafted with the first four picks. Six could be selected in the first round. Wide receivers could be taken at a historical rate, too. NFL Netwo ...
- Looking around cornerson April 23, 2024 at 12:36 am
This is the 70th in a series of business tips from industry leaders that Enterprise Times has spoken to. Enterprise Times recently interviewed Clive ...
- Earth Day celebrated with clean up of Freedom Corneron April 22, 2024 at 9:37 pm
On Earth Day, volunteers spruced up the memorial to Martin Luther King and Medgar Evers. Residents were joined by employees of Waggoner Engineering and the Hilton Jackson, beautifying the revered ...
via Bing News