Close your eyes and picture the iconic “bullet time” scene from The Matrix — where hacker Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, dodges bullets in slow mo

U of T computational imaging researchers harness AI to ‘fly’ with light in motion

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2024-11-20 13:30:17

Close your eyes and picture the iconic “bullet time” scene from The Matrix — where hacker Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, dodges bullets in slow motion.

Now imagine being able to witness the same effect, but instead of speeding bullets, you’re watching something that moves one million times faster: light itself.

This is now possible, thanks to new research from University of Toronto computer scientists who have built an advanced camera setup that — for the first time — can visualize light in motion from any perspective, opening avenues for further inquiry into new types of 3D sensing techniques.

Dubbed “Flying with Photons ” by the researchers, this computational imaging work can capture ultrafast moments of a scene — like a pulse of light speeding through a pop bottle or bouncing off a mirror — from multiple viewpoints.

This scene, rendered using videos from an ultra-high-speed camera, shows a pulse of light travelling through a pop bottle. Light can be seen scattering off liquid, hitting the ground, focusing on the cap and reflecting to the back. (Courtesy of the researchers)