MIT Develops Camera-Like Fabric 78
suraj.sun writes "Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a fabric made of a mesh of light-sensitive fibers that collectively act like a rudimentary camera. The fibers, which each can detect two frequencies of light, produced signals that when amplified and processed by a computer reproduced an image of a smiley face near the mesh. 'This is the first time that anybody has demonstrated that a single plane of fibers, or "fabric," can collect images just like a camera but without a lens,' said Yoel Fink, an associate professor of materials science, who along with colleagues described the approach in a the journal Nano Letters. MIT suggested that the technology, if developed further, could give a soldier a uniform that would help him see threats in all directions. Optical fiber webs, by distributing the chore across a large area, would be less susceptible to damage in one area."
Cuttlefish-Cloth? (Score:4, Funny)
Give me a fabric that mimics the skin of a cuttlefish and I'll be impressed!
BTW, PBS's Nova just had a special on the cuttlefish...amazing creatures.
did they consider... (Score:3, Funny)
I can see it now (Score:5, Funny)
Screw millitary applications - Give me Star Trek! (Score:2, Funny)
How do you think they can pull up a camera display from anywhere on the Enterprise? Weave this stuff into the walls.
Oh, wait...
/me adjusts tinfoil hat.