MIT scientists developed an optical system that instead of lenses uses a "web" of light-sensitive fibers. The researchers envision applications ranging from more durable and lighter-weight telescopes to smart clothing "that provides situation awareness to soldiers or even the visually impaired." Each fiber, just one-milimeter in diameter, is made out of a photoconductive glass core, electrodes, and a transparent sheathing. Woven together into a grid, the system can detect where a beam of light is coming from. From the MIT News Office:
The transparent fiber-webs could even enable huge computer screens to be activated with beams of light instead of the touch of a finger. "We could use light to enhance interaction with computers and even gaming systems," said Professor Yoel Fink of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Research Lab of Electronics, leader of the team. "It's intriguing–the idea of touching with light…"
The human eye, digital and film cameras, and even the Hubble space telescope rely on lenses and detector surfaces (like the retina) to create images. But while these systems deliver excellent images, they are constrained by their size, weight, fragility and limited field of view.
In contrast, the fiber webs are flexible and lightweight. Plus, a fiber web in the shape of a sphere can sense the entire volume of space around it, according to Fink.
"When you're looking at something with your eyes, there's a particular direction you're looking in," says Ayman Abouraddy a research scientist in Fink's lab. "The field of view is defined around that direction. Depending on the lens, you may be able to capture a certain field of view around that direction, but that's it. Until now, most every optical system was limited by an optical axis or direction."
