Camera Films at Speed of Light

The system relies on a recent technology called a streak camera, deployed in a totally unexpected way. The aperture of the streak camera is a narrow slit. Particles of light -- photons -- enter the camera through the slit and pass through an electric field that deflects them in a direction perpendicular to the slit. Because the electric field is changing very rapidly, it deflects late-arriving photons more than it does early-arriving ones.

The image produced by the camera is thus two-dimensional, but only one of the dimensions -- the one corresponding to the direction of the slit -- is spatial. The other dimension, corresponding to the degree of deflection, is time. The image thus represents the time of arrival of photons passing through a one-dimensional slice of space…

As a longtime camera researcher, Raskar also sees a potential application in the development of better camera flashes. "An ultimate dream is, how do you create studio-like lighting from a compact flash? How can I take a portable camera that has a tiny flash and create the illusion that I have all these umbrellas, and sport lights, and so on?" asks Raskar, the NEC Career Development Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences. "With our ultrafast imaging, we can actually analyze how the photons are traveling through the world. And then we can recreate a new photo by creating the illusion that the photons started somewhere else."

Pretty cool.

Amazing.
The cool thing about the video in the coke bottle is that you can see the photo and also the photon field as it passed behind the red label. It shows both the particle aspect of light and the wave aspect as well.

Medical imaging? Chemical analysis? Whatever. The first use will be as a speeding camera along highways, so they can nail you for going 65.0000000000000000001 mph and then fine you a few hundred.

No, if they really want to expand the technology, figure out how to kill people with it. You'll be able to get all the funding you want.

But this is pretty cool. This 'pulse' of light that they filmed, was this one photon? Of was it a pulse with some number of photons?

Multiple photons....had to be that way as the detector uses photons up to record the image.

You guys have it so wrong-it won't be for a weapon or speeding tickets.

It'll be a new way to watch porn.

Edison's "The Kiss" was the first movie. "The BJ" was the second. About 12 minutes afterwards.

This 'pulse' of light that they filmed, was this one photon?

I don't see how it could be. If it was just one photon moving across a bottle, it would not hit the camera lens.

I don't see how it could be. If it was just one photon moving across a bottle, it would not hit the camera lens.

#8 | Posted by goatman at 2011-12-15 05:53 AM

I agree with you. Even if it is multiple photons, they aren't moving toward the camera, so there's no way to see them.

.

I've used a high speed camera to analyze force impacts of a robotic assembly used for circuit board component insertion machines. That was 20yrs ago but even with that technology it was absolutely amazing how easily the mechanical operations could be observed with precise details.

So its not just about bullet impacts like in the article. Things like particles in wind tunnels, impact-drill-bit-designs, propeller designs, etc. BTW, I've not built my "Variable Area Propeller" for real application but it were getting built a high speed camera with trace-air-particles over the length/variations of the propeller would be critical to optimizing performance. And I assert "critical" there because airflow isn't linear. There are both laminar/turbulent regions that vary over the blade area. So an assumed laminar design like common avionics/airflow development would only be a good start. Sadly too often those designs are rushed into production without that optimization - and we ALL hear it (the turbulent regions create more noise too).

#10 actually a couple months back I got an email from some University of Rhode Island students who received a grant and plan on testing a series of propellers. They intend to produce analysis similar to what I've simulated for the Wind Turbine Analysis (several times the power output on the same tower (but you'd want a shorter-stronger-tower)).

Why is there no thread on DR about 0bama insisting US citizens can be sent to Guantanamo and held indefinately? Torture ok if done by lib commies??

Holy shit that's cool.

#12 maybe there was or maybe you shoulda started one.

I wonder if it can film neutrinos moving even faster?

www.reuters.com

That would have been helpful on 9/11 at the Pentagon.

By the way. Where are the videos from the surroundings businesses.

I'm sure all of you questioning whether or not these photons can really be seen are very good at what it is you do, but I think I'll take the MIT researchers word for it.

The photons traveling through the plastic bottle can be seen quite clearly, how is it then the photons that exposed the camera frames can't be seen as well?

Did human consciousness have anything to do with which protons were filmed? Why some photons, but not all photons?

photons, not protons. so sorry.

Reitze..
Is it true that orville and Wilbur produced a prop that was within a few percentage points of the efficiency of modern props??... without the benefit of computer modelining, CAD, ETC., of course??

JM