MessageToEagle.com - An entirely new way of capturing images
based on a flat, flexible, transparent and potentially disposable polymer sheet has been developed by an Austrian
team of researchers.
The new imager resembles a flexible plastic film and uses fluorescent particles to capture incoming
light and channel a portion of it to an array of sensors framing the sheet.
Digital cameras, medical scanners, and other imaging technologies have advanced
considerably during the past decade. However, most image sensors are still planar, opaque, and inflexible.
This shows a comparison between the (ground truth) image being focused on the sensor surface and the
reconstructed image (inset).
With no electronics or internal components, the imager's elegant design makes it ideal for a new breed of
imaging technologies, including user interface devices that can respond not to a touch, but merely to a
simple gesture, according to researchers.
"To our knowledge, we are the first to present an image sensor that is fully transparent -- no integrated
microstructures, such as circuits -- and is flexible and scalable at the same time," Oliver Bimber,
of the Johannes Kepler University Linz in Austria and co-author of the
paper said.
The sensor is based on a polymer film, which is suffused with tiny
fluorescent particles that absorb a very specific wavelength (blue light for example) and then reemit it at a
longer wavelength (green light for example).
Some of the reemitted fluorescent light is scattered out of the imager, but a portion of it travels throughout the
interior of the film to the outer edges, where arrays of optical sensors (similar to 1-D pinhole cameras) capture the
light.
A computer then combines the signals to create a gray-scale image.
"With fluorescence, a portion of the light that is reemitted actually stays inside the film," says Bimber.
"This is the basic principle of our sensor."
This shows the world's first flexible and completely transparent image sensor. The plastic
film is coated with fluorescent particles.
The main application the researchers envision for this new technology is in touch-free, transparent user interfaces
that could seamlessly overlay a television or other display technology. This would give computer operators or
video-game players full gesture control without the need for cameras or other external motion-tracking devices.
Additionally, the new sensor could be attached in front of a regular, high-resolution CCD sensor.
This would allow recording of two images at the same time at two different exposures.
"Combining both would give us a high-resolution image with less overexposed or underexposed regions if scenes
with a high dynamic range or contrast are captured," Bimber speculates. He also notes that the polymer sheet
portion of the device is relatively inexpensive and therefore disposable.
"I think there are many applications for this sensor that we are not yet aware of," he concludes.
Teenage Girl Develops Cell Phone That Tests Your Heart
Catherine Wong is a 17-year-old high school student from New Jersey who she is already making a name for herself in both the science
and technology communities. Wong has developed a Bluetooth-enabled device that allows for remote cardiac examination.
No More Zoo Of Broken 3D Printed Objects -
A New Software Will Give Them Strength!
Objects created using 3-D printing have a common flaw: They are fragile and often fall apart or lose their shape.
"I have an entire zoo of broken 3-D printed objects in my office," said Bedrich Benes, an associate professor of computer graphics at Purdue University.
Become A Rocket Scientist And Space Cargo Pilot
With NASA's Free HIAD App!
Have you ever wanted to become a rocket scientist or space cargo pilot? How about mixing space science with a game?
Want to try your hand at landing an inflatable spacecraft? All you need is a smart phone, a computer or a tablet.
MessageToEagle.com - An entirely new way of capturing images
based on a flat, flexible, transparent and potentially disposable polymer sheet has been developed by an Austrian
team of researchers.
All across the world there are people who love to stand outside and photograph the best our beautiful night sky has to offer.
Sometimes they can wait for hours just to take that one perfect shot! The results of these peoples' efforts...
The possibility of time travel have fascinated mankind for ages. We are all familiar with
the concept of the time machine, from H.G. Wells to current sci-fi writers, and there are physicists who say we cannot rule out time travel.
Catherine Wong is a 17-year-old high school student from New Jersey who she is already making a name for herself in both the science
and technology communities. Wong has developed a Bluetooth-enabled device that allows for remote cardiac examination.
Objects created using 3-D printing have a common flaw: They are fragile and often fall apart or lose their shape.
"I have an entire zoo of broken 3-D printed objects in my office," said Bedrich Benes, an associate professor of computer graphics at Purdue University.
Have you ever wanted to become a rocket scientist or space cargo pilot? How about mixing space science with a game?
Want to try your hand at landing an inflatable spacecraft? All you need is a smart phone, a computer or a tablet.
