Two scientists from the University of Southern Florida (USF) say they have developed a technique that allows them to see around obstacles.
According to the technique’s inventors, their algorithm, which was inspired by a car crash, can use a single photograph to compute “highly accurate, full-color three-dimensional reconstructions of areas behind obstacles.”
Although still in the development stages, the inventors say they could see several uses for their technique. Potential applications range from traffic safety and military operations to police forces navigating hostage situations.
“We live in a 3D world,” said the technique’s co-inventor, USF assistant professor of computer science John Murray-Bruce, “so obtaining a more complete 3D picture of a scenario can be critical in several situations and applications.”
THE ABILITY TO SEE AROUND OBSTACLES IS ALL IN THE SHADOWS
To create the algorithm, Murray-Bruce and his doctoral student, Robinson Czajkowski, focused on the information available in a digital photograph. Most importantly, they analyzed the data available from shadows cast by objects and structures that are obstructed from the camera’s point of view.
“These shadows are all around us,” Czajkowski said. “The fact we can’t see them with our naked eye doesn’t mean they’re not there.”
In fact, the pair of scientists say there is a ton of information in these shadows that the human eye simply cannot interpret. Their algorithm also incorporates data from “reflections” cast by objects obscured from the camera’s point of view.
Hellbound and Down 