Monday, August 20, 2012

16. Femto Cameras That See Around Corners

Ramesh Raskar, inventor, talks about his latest creation..... a camera that can see around corners.  Cameras that can capture light in slow motion, cameras that can look around corners beyond our own line of sight, or even see inside our bodies without an xray.  


Using light rays, and a femto camera, this unique device uses the art of bending light off surfaces to reflect images that one could not see in their line of sight.  The theory lies in the notion that when light hits an object and reflects or refracts back to the camera, the light particles arrive back at different time slots.   The femto camera is that sophisticated it records the length of light at 0.6 millimetres at 2 picoseconds. It is foreseen that this camera will have the ability to predict vehicles approaching your direction, that are around corners, for search and rescue operations, and or being able to see inside the body without physical intrusion or manipulation. 

Imagine the revolutionary effect this technology would have if converged with self-driving vehicles, or even the implications for security, and search and rescue operations - to see more visit http://www.ted.com/talks/ramesh_raskar_a_camera_that_takes_one_trillion_frames_per_second.html.   In line with this, the benefits this trend will bring for the military and emergency services are huge, "... potential applications for femto-photography included search-and-rescue planning in hazardous conditions, collision avoidance for cars, and robots in industrial environments. His website notes that transient imaging also has significant potential benefits in medical imaging, allowing endoscopes to view around obstacles inside the human body" http://www.hindu.com/2010/11/20/stories/2010112056301100.htm. In addition, any risks involved depend on the operation in which it is used for.  For example, if converged with driverless cars, one would not rush out to buy the very first prototype; alternately, I would be extremely worried if the police were using them with firearms - you should never shoot at any target unless you can 100% identify that target's identity.  

Before this item makes its impact on the marketplace, there is a lot of fine tuning to be conducted yet.  "For consumer use, there is a lot of miniaturization ahead," Velten says. "It's not going to happen soon." But eventually, he says, "There's no reason why this shouldn't be on your iPhone someday"" http://news.taaza.com/source/908379-mits-laser-powered-camera-can-detect-objects-hidden-around-corners-video.html.  

The likelihood of it reaching consumer markets are yet to be determined until smaller and more affordable prototypes are devised.  It's convergence with iPhone, Tablet's, GPRS, SixthSense, or Augmented Reality to re/direct your route to an alternative path, are inevitable, but the question is, 'when?' 

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