MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) researchers have developed a new system named as “CornerCameras”, to detect objects or people in a hidden scene and measure their speed and trajectory — all in real-time.
This “CornerCameras” system can work with smartphone cameras to see things hidden around corners.
To explain, imagine that you’re walking down an L-shaped hallway and have a wall between you and some objects around the corner. Those objects reflect a small amount of light on the ground in your line of sight, creating a fuzzy shadow that is referred to as the “penumbra.”
Using video of the penumbra, the system can stitch together a series of one-dimensional images that reveal information about the objects around the corner.
The team was surprised to find that CornerCameras worked in a range of challenging situations, including weather conditions like rain.
The ability to see around obstructions would be useful for many tasks, from firefighters finding people in burning buildings to drivers detecting pedestrians in their blind spots.
Most approaches for seeing around obstacles involve special lasers. Specifically, researchers shine cameras on specific points that are visible to both the observable and hidden scene, and then measure how long it takes for the light to return.
However, these so-called “time-of-flight cameras” are expensive and can easily get thrown off by ambient light, especially outdoors.
In contrast, the CSAIL team’s technique doesn’t require actively projecting light into the space, and works in a wider range of indoor and outdoor environments and with off-the-shelf consumer cameras.
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