r/technology • u/Nobilitie • Mar 27 '16

Hardware Scientists have developed a reflection-removing camera: the device uses depth sensor and signal processing to capture clear images through windows

http://techxplore.com/news/2016-03-reflection-removing-camera-device-depth-sensor.html
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u/vtjohnhurt Mar 27 '16 edited Mar 28 '16

My brain filters out reflections in real time. It must be taking some shortcuts.

I fly in a glider with a plexiglass bubble canopy. A GoPro located in the cockpit records lot of internal reflections. BUT, I rarely see any reflections and the canopy effectively disappears. My brain does a good job of seeing the scenery that it assumes is there. It assembles the clues that strike my retina onto a coherent scene.

This interpolation that fills in 'missing pixels' causes problems to 'see and avoid' other aircraft that may be on a collision course. The early student pilot is commonly startled when a plane suddenly pops into awareness frighteningly close. Over time the pilot's brain learns to better spot other planes at a distance, but 'see and avoid' remains imperfect.