Nano camera that operates at light speed

Nano camera that operates at light speed
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Nano Camera That Operates At Light Speed. An inexpensive multi-purpose 'nano-camera' that can operate at the speed of light has been developed by a team of MIT researchers, United States, including Indian-origin scientists.

An inexpensive multi-purpose 'nano-camera' that can operate at the speed of light has been developed by a team of MIT researchers, United States, including Indian-origin scientists.

The USD 500 camera could be used in medical imaging and collision-avoidance detectors for cars, and to improve the accuracy of motion tracking and gesture-recognition devices used in interactive gaming.

(From left) MIT students Ayush Bhandari, Refael Whyte and Achuta Kadambi pose next to their ‘nano-camera’ that can capture translucent objects, such as a glass vase, in 3-D. Photo: Bryce Vickmark
The three-dimensional camera was developed by researchers in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab.
The camera is based on "Time of Flight" technology in which the location of objects is calculated by how long it takes a light signal to reflect off a surface and return to the sensor.
However, unlike existing devices based on this technology, the new camera is not fooled by rain, fog, or even translucent objects, said co-author Achuta Kadambi.
"Using the current state of the art, such as the new Kinect, you cannot capture translucent objects in 3-D," said Kadambi, a graduate student at MIT.
"That is because the light that bounces off the transparent object and the background smear into one pixel on the camera. Using our technique you can generate 3-D models of translucent or near-transparent objects," Kadambi added.
In a conventional Time of Flight camera, a light signal is fired at a scene, where it bounces off an object and returns to strike the pixel.
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