Reported by: YAN Mingxing
Translated by: SUN Shanshan
Edited by: Jonathan Wylie
Recently, New Scientist, a famous technical journal, published an article, titled, Map a room by shining a laser through the keyhole, to report new achievements in the field of non-line-of-sight imaging lasers made by JIN Chenfei, an associate professor and member of the research group of Professor ZHAO Yuan.
With the rapid development of Lidar and photoelectric detectors, three-dimensional laser imaging techniques are widely used for geographical research, 3D movies, robot vision, navigation, target recognition and biomedicine and the techniques are increasingly developing. At the same time, researchers continuously explore and extend new applications in the field of laser imaging. Non-line-of-sight imaging of lasers to detect hidden objects is at the forefront of current research.
According to JIN, after comparing and analyzing the existing technology, they came up with a method of three-dimensional imaging of multi-scatterings of lasers based on pin-hole imaging theory. The 3D laser reconstruction of hidden objects in a room viewed through a small hole is completed through the time-related single photon counting system. The research was released in the article, Recovering three-dimensional shape through a small hole using three laser scatterings, published in Optics Letters.
JIN indicated, based on existing advanced commercial devices, this method greatly reduced the volume, weight and cost of the system, proving a necessary precondition for the further practical application of the technique. After further study and improvement of the technique, hopefully it will have wide application in the areas of fire and rescue, earthquake relief, geographical research and medical diagnosis.
The achievement has become a hotspot in the field of technology. New Scientist reported, an expert of Massachusetts Institute of Technology said he liked the work, but pointed out that if the hole were easily accessible, it would be easier for would-be spies to simply put a camera up against the wall and take a photo of the room. At the same time, he said the method was capable of working remotely from the wall but required very specific and delicate geometry inside and outside the room.
The major research directions of JIN include laser 3D imaging, low-light-level detection and microwave photonics. So far, more than 20 SCI and EI papers have been published in Optics Letters and Journal of Applied Optics.
