This Laser-Shooting Camera Can See You From Around the Corner

A team of researchers at Stanford University developed a camera that can capture moving objects hidden around corners.

And unlike the similar camera tech that exists already that requires objects to reflect light evenly and strongly (which is not always the case), this new camera system can reflect light off objects with different textures and surfaces, including a disco ball. And not to mention the camera is faster than the older systems that have been used to see around corners, making it a better fit for autonomous vehicles.

And while the new technology is in its early stages and is somewhat low-res, this camera could be a game-changer for driverless cars.

So how does it work?

It’s pretty simple actually.

These kinds of cameras use lasers to accomplish this seemingly impossible task, firing the laser at a wall opposite the object of interest. The light scatters off the wall, and reflects off the object hidden around the corner and back onto the wall. Sensors, paired with a processing algorithm, measure how long it takes for this scattered light to return to the wall, and using those measurements, the system can accurately reconstruct an image of what’s hiding around the corner.

Pretty cool, right?

And this new and improved camera system created by the Stanford team can do all of this in real time.

The team of researchers was able to make these improvements in time efficiency, plus the system has the ability to detect a much wider variety of objects that reflect light in more complex ways, because of improvements both to the laser and in imaging reconstruction techniques. The laser in this new system is 10,000 times more powerful than the one used in their experiments from last year.

Ted Forbes: DSLR is DEAD?

Ted Forbes:

Mirrorless is the future? The DSLR is dead? Kind of a funny argument when it comes down to it. Photography has grown a lot over its short history. One of the greatest things about it is that no technology ever replaces what’s come before it. Digital photography has brought on a lot of new technology and mirrorless is the latest accomplishment. Mirrorless allows us to have a full data readout from the sensor. Sony has made incredible strides with their autofocus speeds as a result. Canon and Nikon have both introduced their first mirrorless systems in the last year. We have barely scratched the surface. Though surprising, Nikon’s latest announcement is the Nikon D6 – a DSLR.

Sigma FP will be launched on October 20

As promised by Kazuto Yamaki when he presented the fp, Sigma just published the 3D appearance data of the Sigma fp and its Sigma accessories.
The purpose of such publication is to facilitate the design of fp accessories by third parties and therefore speed up their release, with a view to creating as large an ecosystem as possible as quickly as possible. This is, pushed to a further level, the strategy pursued by Sony when they made the main E mount specifications available to third parties.
Available for download (without any prior requirement) tare .step files. STEP stands for “STandard for the Exchange of Product model data” a.k.a. ISO 10303. It can represent 3D objects and related information in CAD/CAM software. *.step files are recognized by programs such as Dassault Systemes SolidWorks, IMSI TurboCAD and Autodesk Fusion 360.
In addition to this official communication, an unofficial but well-informed source, photographer Kimio Tanaka, just twitted that the Sigma fp should be launched around the 20th of October.
–
Thanks Mistral!