Volume Capture Technologies on the Horizon

Most Reality Computing capture technologies are based on the concept of capturing surface data—whether it’s 3D laser scanning the outside of a building to inspect for structural damage, or using digital photogrammetry to produce accurate models of your feet for custom-sized shoes.

But what about technology for capturing volume data, such as scanners that can see inside or through a surface? Devices that can look into your body or see through walls. Check out the article descriptions below to learn about how Reality Computing based on volume capture technology is poised to break away from the realm of science fiction and superheroes.

3D Medical Imaging

3D medical imaging technology already exists and many of us have experienced it in the form of an ultrasound. But ultrasound equipment is costly and relatively bulky. Most machines include a probe that sends and receives the sound waves, which is hooked up to a computer that processes the ultrasound data and performs all the calculations, a keyboard to control the computer, and the screen to display the resulting image.

But entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg has raised $100 million to create a portable, very inexpensive ultrasound imaging device. The system—being developed by Rothberg’s startup company, Butterfly Network—is apparently a very compact scanner with a screen display that can create 3D images in real time and perform preliminary diagnostics using cloud-based pattern-finding software. The patent application for the device says it lets you “look through what appears to be a window” into a person’s body. Sounds like equipment that could be found in the sickbay of the starship Enterprise…

Click here to read a MIT Technology Review article about the system.

Seeing Through Walls

Researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Lab are making strides in using radar technology to see through solid walls and display objects on the other side. The ‘x-ray vision’ technology gives you a real-time video feed of what's going on behind a concrete wall—which would be extremely useful for soldiers, police, or emergency rescue personnel. The system sends out radio waves, most of which are absorbed by the wall. But the few that get through bounce off objects on the other side and travel back through the wall. Again, the wall traps most of the returning waves, but enough get back. The system receiving the data calculates and displays only moving objects, so it ignores (for example) furniture. Right now, the objects are displayed as colorful blobs moving on the screen, giving you a bird's-eye-view perspective of what’s behind the wall. But as the technology progresses, the image clarity is sure to improve.

For more information on this new volume capture technology, check out these articles:

• Wired article about the MIT Lincoln Lab project
• Boston Globe article about similar research by scientists at MIT and the University of Washington who are developing a “Wi-Vi” system that enables a Wi-Fi device to see through walls and detect motion.