Photonics & Imaging

Handheld Space Microscope

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a handheld digital microscope to fill the critical microscopy needs of human space exploration by providing flight crews in situ hematological diagnostic and tracking ability to assess and monitor crew health in the absence of gravity. Read on to learn more.

Scientists Propose Laser Scalpel with a ‘Curved’ Blade

Changing the shape of the blade will expand the possibilities of using the laser in medicine.

Scientists Use Distant Sensor to Monitor American Samoa Earthquake Swarm

Residents of the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa were feeling the earth shake, raising concerns of an imminent volcanic eruption or tsunami. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey used machine learning and a technique called template matching on shaking data recorded from a single seismic sensor located 250 kilometers away to locate the source of the shaking. Read on to learn more.

Adding AI-Powered Inspection to Existing Machine Vision Systems

Machine vision is a cornerstone of modern manufacturing quality control, ensuring product consistency and reliability. However, many facilities face a dilemma: while their existing vision systems remain mechanically sound, their analytical capabilities lag behind evolving manufacturing requirements. Read on to learn the solution.

New Products

See the new products, including TRIOPTICS' ImageMaster® PRO AR Reflection waveguide testing solution; TOP-TICA’s Clock Laser System; Aerotech Inc.'s HexGen® HEX150-125HL Miniature Hexapod, a six degree-of-freedom precision positioning system; Teledyne e2v's Optimom™ 5D turnkey imaging module; Coherent Corp.'s set of pluggable optical transceivers optimized for use in data centers that incorporate optical circuit switches; and more.

Sustainable Computing for AI Processing

AI-driven computing is at a turning point. The old paradigm — squeezing ever-smaller transistors onto silicon chips — is becoming infeasible. Just increasing the chip size and with it the power consumption is unsustainable. The future lies in photonic processors that operate without electrical resistance, minimize heat dissipation, and deliver unmatched computational speed and efficiency. Read on to learn more.

Researchers Pave the Way for a New Era in Medical Imaging

New technology developed by researchers at the University of Houston could revolutionize medical imaging and lead to faster, more precise and more cost-effective alternatives to traditional diagnostic methods. Read on to learn more.

Ultra-Broadband Photonic Chip Boosts Optical Signals

Researchers have developed a photonic chip-based traveling wave parametric amplifier that achieves ultra-broadband signal amplification in an unprecedentedly compact form. Read on to learn more about it.

Revolutionizing Dynamic Facial Projection Mapping: A Leap Forward in Augmented Reality

Augmented reality has become a hot topic in the entertainment, fashion, and makeup industries. Though a few different technologies exist in these fields, dynamic facial projection mapping is among the most sophisticated and visually stunning ones. Read on to learn more about it.

New Study Showcases 3D Photonics with Record Performance for AI

Artificial intelligence systems promise transformative advancements, yet their growth has been limited by energy inefficiencies and bottlenecks in data transfer. Researchers at Columbia Engineering have unveiled a groundbreaking solution: a 3D photonic-electronic platform that achieves unprecedented energy efficiency and bandwidth density, paving the way for next-generation AI hardware. Read on to learn more.

Noninvasive Imaging Method Can Penetrate Deeper Into Living Tissue

Metabolic imaging is a noninvasive method that enables clinicians and scientists to study living cells using laser light, which can help them assess disease progression and treatment responses. But light scatters when it shines into biological tissue, limiting how deeply it can penetrate and hampering the resolution of captured images. Now, MIT researchers have developed a new technique that more than doubles the usual depth limit of metabolic imaging. Read on to learn more.

Vision System Assures Glass Act at California Shop

Machining metal has its challenges as many shops will attest, but machining glass is another matter – one that Dan Bukaty Jr., President of Precision Glass & Optics (PG&O) is well schooled in. Mr. Bukaty and his 35-person shop manufacture high-end precision glass optics for customers such as IMAX, Intuitive Surgical, Boeing and NASA, to name a few. Read on to learn about PG&O's use of a vision system.

Twisted Light in Optical Fibers May Lead to Substantial Capacity Enhancements

Exploiting the “spatial” degree of freedom of light can mean many things. Read on to learn what they are and what the process can lead to.

A Compact, Mid-Infrared Pulse Generator

Physicists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a compact laser that emits extremely bright, short pulses of light in a useful but...

Knowing the Right Trigger Strategy Ensures Capture of High-Speed Application With Precision

In the field of technical imaging, the term “trigger” is often used synonymously with the term frame-synchronization (or f-sync) signal. In the...

Tying Overlapping Laser Beams into Stable 'Optical Knots'

A beam of light doesn’t sound like a material that can create a knot. Until now.

A New Model that Addresses the ‘Outfielder Problem’

The work addresses the outfielder problem, which refers to the baseball player who stands in the outfield to catch the ball after it is hit. It is a classic challenge in physics and the neuroscience of movement, used to explore how humans and animals predict movements in a dynamic environment and how automated systems can be designed to mimic them.

An Innovative Sensing Platform for Ultrahigh Sensitivity in Conventional Sensors

New research unlocks the power of exceptional points (EPs) for advanced optical sensing. In a study published in Science Advances , a team showed that these unique EPs — specific conditions in systems where extraordinary optical phenomena can occur — can be deployed on conventional sensors to achieve a striking sensitivity to environmental perturbations. Read on to learn more.

Bio-Inspired Cameras and AI Detect Obstacles Faster

Daniel Gehrig and Davide Scaramuzza from the Department of Informatics at the University of Zurich have combined a novel bio-inspired camera with AI to develop a system that can detect obstacles around a car much quicker than current systems and using less computational power. Read on to learn more about the study, which is published in Nature.

Single-Shot Polarization Imaging System Provides Complete Picture

Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a compact, single-shot polarization imaging system that can provide a complete picture of polarization. Read on to learn more about it.

A Step Toward More Accurate 3D Object Detection

Scientists have developed multi-modal 3D object detection methods that combine 3D LiDAR data with 2D RGB images taken by standard cameras. While the fusion of 2D images and 3D LiDAR data leads to more accurate 3D detection results, it still faces its own set of challenges, with accurate detection of small objects remaining difficult. Read on to learn more about it.

A Neuromorphic Exposure Control System to Revolutionize Machine Vision in Extreme Lighting Environments

A research team has recently developed a neuromorphic exposure control system that revolutionizes machine vision under extreme lighting variations.

This AI Can Tell You Your Food’s Nutritional Value

An AI system developed by NYU Tandon School of Engineering researchers promises a new tool for the millions of people who want to manage their weight, diabetes, and other diet-related health conditions.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including paper-thin optical lenses simple enough to mass produce like microchips; a compact cooling technology that can pump away heat continuously using layers of flexing thin films; and a multilayered chip design that doesn’t require any silicon wafer substrates and works at temperatures low enough to preserve the underlying layer’s circuitry.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including electronic control products from NORD DRIVESYSTEMS; the new F-141 photonics alignment system from PI; InnoPhase IoT's expansion of its Talaria platform; Aerotech, Inc.'s HexGen® HEX150-125HL Miniature Hexapod; and more.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including Nikon Corporation's NEXIV VMF-K Series, a next-generation video measuring system; the surfaceCONTROL 3D snapshot sensors from Micro-Epsilon; InfraTec's INDU-SCAN base, a flexible and cost-effective thermography solution for use in industrial applications 24/7; Curtiss-Wright Actuation Division's Exlar® electric actuator product offerings; and more.