- A new type of pixel is capable of controlling and analyzing light
- It is based on Fourier’s mathematical tool.
- We will have to wait a while for this to appear on the screens of our devices.
Screens that function as cameras could be included in future devices, as researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland have developed a new type of pixel that can analyze and create images simultaneously.
These bidirectional pixels are capable of monitoring and reading the intensity, oscillation, phase and polarization of light, and are based on the fundamental physics of interfering light waves. The pixels are carefully sculpted at the nanometer level to direct light as it hits the surface and disperses.
At the same time that light travels through the pixel and disperses towards the viewer, creating the required images and patterns, an analysis of the incoming light can also be performed, all on the same pixel.
The approach “establishes a universal, scalable architecture for vector-programmable pixels with applications in adaptive optics, holographic displays, optical communication, and quantum information processing,” the researchers write in their paper on the new pixel, published in Nature.
Expanding
The pixel is called a Fourier pixel after the mathematical tool on which the component is based. It’s essentially a way to decompose a complex output signal into a series of waves that can be more easily controlled, like the light fields here.
It is still early days for the research and there will be challenges in scaling it up. Right now, the pixels need laser light as a source and are fixed on what they can display; This is not like a television screen that can show anything, although there are several potential routes through which the technology could develop in that direction.
The reactions on Reddit are perhaps a sign of the current technological times, as people have instantly realized the potential of surveillance. “Screens that are also cameras, what could go wrong?” ” reads one poster, while another says: “I will never buy a device with that technology.” Fans of dystopian sci-fi have also been inspired to quote sections of 1984 about ‘telescreens’, which were two-way televisions and security cameras used to monitor citizens.
Interesting related piece of technology history at the time: The term ‘pixel’, originally ‘picture element’, was first used in print in 1927, so next year it will be a century since the words (now word) were originally introduced.
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