- A new type of pixel is capable of both controlling and analyzing light
- It is based on Fourier mathematical tool
- We will have to wait for some time to get this on our gadget screens
Screens that act as cameras could be packed into future gadgets, as researchers from ETH Zurich in Switzerland have developed a new type of pixel that can analyze and create images simultaneously.
Able to both control and read the light’s intensity, oscillation, phase and polarization, these bidirectional pixels are based on the fundamental physics of interfering light waves. Pixels are carefully sculpted at the nanometer level to direct light as it hits the surface and is scattered.
At the same time as the light travels across the pixel and is scattered back to the viewer, creating the necessary images and patterns, an analysis of the incoming light can also be performed – all on the same pixel.
The approach “establishes a scalable, universal architecture for vector programmable pixels with applications in adaptive optics, holographic displays, optical communications, and quantum information processing,” the researchers write in their paper on the new pixel, published in Nature.
Scaling up
The pixel is referred to as a Fourier pixel after the mathematical tool on which the component is based. It’s basically a way to break down a complex output signal into a series of waves that can be controlled more easily – just like the light fields here.
It is still early days for the research and there will be challenges in scaling this up. Right now, pixels need laser light as a source and are fixed in what they can display – it’s not like a TV screen that can display anything, although there are several potential routes through which the technology could be developed in that direction.
The reactions on Reddit are perhaps indicative of our current technological times, as people have instantly grasped the surveillance potential. “Screenshots that are also cameras, what can go wrong?” reads one poster, while another says “I’ll never buy a device with that technology”. Fans of dystopian sci-fi have also been inspired to quote episodes from 1984 about ‘telescreens’, which were two-way televisions and security cameras used to monitor citizens.
Interesting related piece of tech history of the day: The term ‘pixel’, originally ‘picture element’, was used in print for the first time in 1927, so next year it will be a century since the words (now words) were originally introduced.
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