The fuzzy, ghostly figures typically seen in thermal images might become a thing of the past. By pairing artificial intelligence and thermal vision, scientists can make crisp, detailed images — even in the dark. The technique could one day help improve self-driving vehicles’ ability to navigate at night.
Thermal imaging, which is often used in night vision systems, works by detecting heat sources. The infrared images are blurry because of a phenomenon called ghosting. Heat from an object overwhelms any details about the object’s texture, much like turning on a light makes it difficult to decipher any etching on a lightbulb.
Theoretical physicist Fanglin Bao of Purdue University in West Lafeyette, Ind., and colleagues used a thermal camera that can distinguish between different wavelengths of infrared light. The researchers paired that camera with a computer program that uses AI to untangle information from the device to reveal the temperature, texture and type of material of objects in an image. This technique painted bright, detailed images out of dark, nighttime scenes, the team reports July 26 in Nature.
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