Uploaded May 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
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In this project, we pursue a radically different approach to imaging. Rather than seeking to capture the world from a single point in space, our goal is to explore the idea of imaging using a thin, large, flexible sheet. If such cameras can be made at a low cost (ideally, like a roll of plastic sheet), they can be used to image the world in ways that would be difficult to achieve using one or more conventional cameras. In the most general sense, such an imaging system would enable any surface in the real world to capture visual information. While there is significant ongoing work on the development of flexible image sensors, our interest here is in the design of the optics needed to form images on such sensors.
At first glance one might imagine that a simple lens array aligned with a flexible detector array would suffice - its field of view (FOV) can be varied by simply bending it. What is perhaps less apparent is the fact that, in a curved state, the FOV can end up being severely under-sampled. This under-sampling leads to a captured image that is not bandlimited. Thus, the Nyquist sampling criterion is violated and the image will suffer from aliasing artifacts when reconstructed. It is important to note that these artifacts cannot be removed via post-processing since scene information is lost during image formation.
Source:
In this project, we pursue a radically different approach to imaging. Rather than seeking to capture the world from a single point in space, our goal is to explore the idea of imaging using a thin, large, flexible sheet. If such cameras can be made at a low cost (ideally, like a roll of plastic sheet), they can be used to image the world in ways that would be difficult to achieve using one or more conventional cameras. In the most general sense, such an imaging system would enable any surface in the real world to capture visual information. While there is significant ongoing work on the development of flexible image sensors, our interest here is in the design of the optics needed to form images on such sensors.
At first glance one might imagine that a simple lens array aligned with a flexible detector array would suffice - its field of view (FOV) can be varied by simply bending it. What is perhaps less apparent is the fact that, in a curved state, the FOV can end up being severely under-sampled. This under-sampling leads to a captured image that is not bandlimited. Thus, the Nyquist sampling criterion is violated and the image will suffer from aliasing artifacts when reconstructed. It is important to note that these artifacts cannot be removed via post-processing since scene information is lost during image formation.
