Urban Warfare Operations are complicated by a three-dimensional environment, limited fields of view and fire because of buildings, enhanced concealment and cover for defenders, below-ground infrastructure, and the ease of placement of booby traps and snipers. DARPA is investing in many novel camera technologies . In the event of urban siege, such cameras can help provide the situational awareness necessary for fast-response teams to intercept the targets.
Stanford engineers have developed a 4D camera with an extra-wide field of view. They believe this camera can be better than current options for close-up robotic vision and augmented reality.
U.S. Defense Department Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has provided a $4.4 million grant Morgridge Institute for Research and University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers to fast-track research and development of the camera that can snap pictures around corners. While regular cameras rely on the opening burst of light on the subject, while this project focuses on the indirect light that comes later and scatters and bounces through the scene. “We are interested in capturing exactly what a conventional camera doesn’t capture,” Velten says.
Another one of DARPA’s projects is the VirtualEye system, consisting of two cameras, developed in collaboration with Nvidia. This sophisticated tech enables troops to digitally map a building or a room and virtually walk around the space to explore it and see exactly what they could encounter, before they physically enter it.
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