IBM scientists are reportedly building a compact hyperimaging platform that will render superhero vision to humans in the next five years to see things that are invisible to the naked eye, which cannot see 99.9 percent of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Hyperimaging would leverage different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum in a single platform to host affordable devices that may be embedded in phones.
According to an IBM scientist, who is leading the hyperimaging research, the new imaging devices coming into the market will be using a combo of hyperimaging and artificial intelligence to make what visible light could not show.
Technically, this will be done by aligning multiple bands of the electromagnetic spectrum to see objects which were previously blocked from the naked eye view.
Grand Hyper Vision
Alberto Garcia, senior researcher at IBM, revealed that the technology company is working on a "revolutionary system" for superhero vision.
When translated into reality, it would even achieve X-ray vision in wearable imaging devices. Being an ambitious technology, this hyperimaging technology will further transcend the limitations of X-ray machines and scanners, which are also confined to certain wavelengths of light.
"We are building a portable hyper-imaging platform that 'sees' across separate portions of the electromagnetic spectrum in one platform to potentially enable a host of practical and affordable devices and applications that are part of our everyday experiences," Garcia said.
He said leveraging information from more portions of the spectrum will go a long way in knowing more about the objects around us.
Boost For Self-Driving Cars
According to analysts, the new technology will boost the autonomous car sector by making computers more agile and safe drivers than humans.
Thanks to the new technology, driving will be safer as devices like micro imaging cameras and electromagnetic sensors make scanning a lot easier for cars to detect hazards in the path even if it is raining or the road is engulfed in fog.
"Cognitive computing technologies will reason about this data and recognize what might be a tipped over garbage can versus a deer crossing the road, or a pothole that could result in a flat tire," Garcia added.
For example, by hyperimaging food items, nutritional value can be assessed along with the worthiness for consumption.
Similarly, the hyper image of a pharmaceutical drug can spell out whether it is spurious or not. Certainly, it is a big breakthrough as it is turning something into a reality that was beyond perception.
The best part will be that these devices will be affordable, and portable in giving superhero vision an everyday experience.
Five In Five Technologies
IBM has presented the hyper imaging technology as one of the five parts of the annual 'Five in Five' list that seeks to make the world a better place.
They have been projected as groundbreaking scientific innovations with the potential to change the way people live, work, and interact.
IBM's theme for 2017 is "Making the invisible visible," with a focus on hyper imaging, artificial intelligence, chip technology, macroscopes, and smart sensors.
