A camera can track the movement of an object hidden around a corner.
Researchers can already reveal images of hidden items by firing a laser onto the floor and studying the light that is scattered back from all surfaces, including concealed ones. But such systems work too slowly to track any movement. Genevieve Gariepy and Daniele Faccio at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK, and their colleagues used a laser and an ultrafast camera to measure the position and arrival time of photons from the laser bouncing back off a figurine placed around a corner (pictured). This allowed them to track the object, even while it was moving at a speed of a few centimetres per second.
The method could be useful for remote observation in hazardous areas, or to prevent vehicles colliding at blind corners, the authors say.
Nature Photon. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.234 (2015)
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Seeing movement around corners. Nature 528, 167 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/528167d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/528167d
