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Seeing Around Corners Using Smartphone-Grade Lidar

56 points - last Monday at 11:32 AM

Source
  • mberlove

    today at 2:36 PM

    This specific finding is minor, but its implications are not IMHO. From the article it appears the researchers consider this a discovery in effect.

    If consumer hardware is already capable (in many settings) of reproducing what were formerly research-level and industry-grade techniques, it may be a transformation in more areas of technology than would be obvious. I am very curious to see if there will be further findings in this area.

      • momoschili

        today at 3:50 PM

        This is a very natural progression of technologies that escape industry/defense to get into the consumer's hand.

        • libria

          today at 3:03 PM

          The military/LEO is probably already envisioning a Daredevil like helmet with augmented-reality lenses that overlay non-line-of-sight threats in real time.

            • deburo

              today at 4:07 PM

              Didn't we already have a video of that? I don't remember the data sources used to generate the overlay, however. Was it multiple solders' helmets sharing their data, and/or perhaps even a drone from above?

      • aftbit

        today at 2:41 PM

        Smartphone grade lidar == FaceID ?

          • momoschili

            today at 3:52 PM

            depends on what phone you have but LIDAR sensors are used for more than just faceID

        • ofrzeta

          today at 12:34 PM

          So this only works if you have walls opposite of this corner?

            • libria

              today at 12:50 PM

              It seems to require a lidar reflective object. Likely more generally, the effectiveness lowers the less objects there are to bounce and return signal.

              It could probably work with less accuracy/resolution against visible vehicles in the opposite lane, a hedgerow, postal box, pedestrian carrying a visible laptop and possibly synthesize all of these to improve its guess.

              • wongarsu

                today at 1:45 PM

                The video thumbnail implies bouncing off the ground, not a wall. Not sure how the geometry works out for that

            • cuechan

              today at 11:09 AM

              Why not just place a mirror at 45 degrees in the corner? That way you don't need the lidar but you can just look around the corner? It would also work better with the lidar.

                • devmor

                  today at 11:45 AM

                  I would be interested in seeing your visual mockups of how such a solution works on one of the article’s examples, like a car.

                    • wongarsu

                      today at 12:48 PM

                      Like this: https://c8.alamy.com/compde/t0580m/der-verkehr-kurve-spiegel...

                      Or this: https://cdn-01-artemis.media-brady.com/Assets/ImageRoot/DMEU...

                      Reasonably common in difficult corners in Germany and Austria. Probably elsewhere too.

                      The downside is that it's road infrastructure that has to be installed. The upside is that it works for everyone, including people in 20 year old cars or on bicycles.

                      • dietrichsam

                        today at 12:03 PM

                        Every car just needs n number of mirrors on articulating joints and to sense any oncoming cars that need to see around a corner and then receive a command to reposition said mirror.