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All objects emit heat in the form of infrared radiation, which is why militaries around the world use infrared cameras in night vision equipment. But one aspect that's frequently overlooked is the polarization of the radiation that objects emit. According to Dr. Kristan Gurton, an experimental physicist in the Computational and Information Sciences Directorate, "researchers have known for about 30 years that man-made objects emit thermal radiation that is partially polarized, for example, trucks, aircraft, buildings, vehicles, etc., and that natural objects like grass, soil, trees and bushes tend to emit thermal radiation that exhibits very little polarization." Researchers are exploiting this property to build infrared systems that are not only sharper, but filter out undesirable artifacts. Hoping the avoid the mistakes of overly complex past efforts, the researchers' current design uses a simple rotating polarization filter to capture multiple images that are merged into a single, filtered image. Gurton believes they'll have to move back to a "micro-pixel FPA approach" if the technology is to be commercialized. Military tech often filters down to the civilian market, so assuming they work the kinks out, I wouldn't be surprised if commercial version of these cameras shows up soon.
There are some comparison images in the original article, and you can check out a video of the tech here.
"Prior to our research at ARL, the only way to view humans at night was to use conventional thermal imaging," Gurton said. "Unfortunately, such imagery is plagued by a "ghosting" effect in which detailed facial features required for human identification are lost. However, when polarization information is included in the thermal image, i.e., a thermal polarimetric image, fine facial details emerge, which allows facial recognition algorithms to be applied."
There are some comparison images in the original article, and you can check out a video of the tech here.
"Prior to our research at ARL, the only way to view humans at night was to use conventional thermal imaging," Gurton said. "Unfortunately, such imagery is plagued by a "ghosting" effect in which detailed facial features required for human identification are lost. However, when polarization information is included in the thermal image, i.e., a thermal polarimetric image, fine facial details emerge, which allows facial recognition algorithms to be applied."
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