Researchers have developed a fixed LiDAR sensor that has a 360° view. This new sensor is drawing attention as an original technology that can enable an ultra-small LiDAR sensor since it is made from the metasurface, which is an ultra-thin flat optical device that is only one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair strand. Using the metasurface can greatly expand the viewing angle of the LiDAR to recognize objects three-dimensionally. The research team succeeded in extending the viewing angle of the LiDAR sensor to 360° by modifying the design and periodically arranging the nanostructures that make up the metasurface.
It is possible to extract 3D information of objects in 360° regions by scattering more than 10,000 dot array from the metasurface to objects and photographing the irradiated point pattern with a camera. This type of LiDAR sensor is used for the iPhone face recognition function. The study is significant in that the technology that allows cell phones, VR/AR glasses, and unmanned robots to recognize the 3D information of the surrounding environment is fabricated with nano-optical elements. By utilizing nanoimprint technology, it is easy to print the new device on various curved surfaces, such as glasses or flexible substrates, which enables applications to AR glasses.
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