MIT camera can 'see around corners'
Summary: MIT researchers have developed a camera system that uses reflected laser light to 'see' and build 3D images of objects that are out of line-of-sight
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A prototype camera system can "see around corners"
A prototype camera system can "see around corners" using bursts of light, according to the Massachussets Institute of Technology researchers who designed the device.
The system bounces femtosecond-long bursts of laser light off walls, doors or floors to build 3D images of objects that are out of the camera's line of sight, MIT said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Four years ago, when I talked to people in ultra-fast optics about using femtosecond lasers for room-sized scenes, they said it was totally ridiculous," Ramesh Raskar, an associate professor at the MIT Media Lab, said in the statement.
Using the same principle as a periscope reflecting light, the system fires ultra-short bursts of laser light at a surface such as a wall, to angle the light pulses into a room. The light bounces around inside the room, and is picked up when it emerges by a detector that can take measurements every few picoseconds.
Image credit: MIT
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