Imaging With Nature: Compressive Imaging Using a Multiply Scattering Medium

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel optical compressive imaging method that uses natural wave scattering in a complex medium, like white paint, to acquire images with fewer measurements without engineered measurement control.

Contribution

It introduces a purely analog compressive imaging technique leveraging natural scattering media, eliminating the need for engineered measurement sequences.

Findings

Effective optical imaging with white paint as scattering medium

Reduces measurement requirements compared to traditional methods

Uses natural randomness for compressive sensing

Abstract

The recent theory of compressive sensing leverages upon the structure of signals to acquire them with much fewer measurements than was previously thought necessary, and certainly well below the traditional Nyquist-Shannon sampling rate. However, most implementations developed to take advantage of this framework revolve around controlling the measurements with carefully engineered material or acquisition sequences. Instead, we use the natural randomness of wave propagation through multiply scattering media as an optimal and instantaneous compressive imaging mechanism. Waves reflected from an object are detected after propagation through a well-characterized complex medium. Each local measurement thus contains global information about the object, yielding a purely analog compressive sensing method. We experimentally demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for optical imaging by using a 300-micrometer thick layer of white paint as the compressive imaging device. Scattering media are thus promising candidates for designing efficient and compact compressive imagers.