Method and apparatus for compressive imaging device
A new digital image/video camera that directly acquires random projections of the incident light field without first collecting the pixels/voxels. In one preferred embodiment, the camera employs a digital micromirror array to perform optical calculations of linear projections of an image onto pseudorandom binary patterns. Its hallmarks include the ability to obtain an image with only a single detection element while measuring the image/video fewer times than the number of pixels or voxels—this can significantly reduce the computation required for image/video acquisition/encoding. Since the system features a single photon detector, it can also be adapted to image at wavelengths that are currently impossible with conventional CCD and CMOS imagers.
1. A system comprising:
a light modulating device configured to modulate an incident stream of light by a series of spatial patterns to produce a modulated light stream, wherein the light modulating device includes a plurality light modulating elements;
a light sensing device having one or more light sensing elements, wherein the one or more light sensing elements are fewer in number than the plurality of the light modulating elements;
an optical subsystem configured to direct the modulated light stream onto the light sensing elements, wherein the light sensing device is configured to obtain measurements of intensity of the modulated light stream over time, wherein each of the measurements represents an inner product between a corresponding time portion of the incident light stream and a corresponding one of the spatial patterns, wherein the measurements comprise an encoded representation of an image or video sequence;
wherein for an image or video sequence that is approximately K-sparse, the number of the measurements is O(K*log 2 (1+N/K)) or less.
2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the number of the one or more light sensing elements is small in relation to the number of the light modulating elements of the light modulating device.
3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the light sensing device has exactly one light sensing element.
4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the image is an array of N pixels, wherein the measurements are usable to compute an estimate of the N-pixel array, wherein the number of the measurements is less than N.
5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the video sequence is an array of N voxels, wherein the measurements are usable to compute an estimate of the N-voxel array, wherein the number of measurements is less than N.
6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein each of the measurements represents a non-adaptive linear projection of the corresponding time portion of the incident light stream onto the corresponding one of the spatial patterns.