MIT develops camera-like fabric
This cross section shows two rings of light-sensitive semiconductor material in the fiber. The eight thicker parts are electrodes to carry signals.
(Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology)And you thought it was a problem when folks went into the locker room toting cell phones with cameras.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a fabric made of a mesh of light-sensitive fibers that collectively act like a rudimentary camera. The fibers, which each can detect two frequencies of light, produced signals that when amplified and processed by a computer reproduced an image of a smiley face near the mesh.
"This is the first time that anybody has demonstrated that a single plane of fibers, or 'fabric,' can collect images just like a camera but without a lens," said Yoel Fink, an associate professor of materials science, who along with colleagues described the approach in a the journal Nano Letters.
MIT suggested that the technology, if developed further, could give a soldier a uniform that would help him see threats in all directions. Optical fiber webs, by distributing the chore across a large area, would be less susceptible to damage in one area.
The technology uses fibers less than a millimeter in diameter, stretched into thin form from a thicker cylinder. Within the fibers are two cylindrical shells of semiconductor material, each connected to the outside world with four built-in metal electrodes.
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
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4: profit
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They use sub-wavelength spacing of light sensors so that they can detect the direction from diffraction-like effects. They must look at the relative phase of the same light hitting two sensors less than a wavelength apart to determine the angle. I imagine further improvements in the technology could eventually lead to better imaging.
- by harvardhup July 8, 2009 11:04 AM PDT
- This is a breakthrough indeed. But can they make also an optic device that may enable us to watch ourselves from all directions? In that case we can call both of these cutting edge technologies a twofold big achievement.
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