TAMPA, Fla. — Imagine a world where, from just one photo, you could see around a corner. 

What You Need To Know

  • The algorithm uses a photo and looks at the shadows to create full-color three-dimensional reconstructions

  • John said the an have many real-world applications, from hostage situations to self-driving cars

  • It will probably be ten to 20 years before the technology is ready to be adopted

A University of South Florida professor and a doctoral student have developed an algorithm that uses shadows in pictures to see that.

USF Computer Science Professor John Murray-Bruce said their algorithm will change how we look at photos.

“It’s a very simple problem to state I want to see around corners but it’s very challenging to solve,” he said.

Since 2017, John has worked to develop an algorithm to see around obstacles using full-color three-dimensional reconstructions from just a single photo.

From hostage situations to being used in self-driving cars, John said this technology can have many real-world applications.

The algorithm uses shadows from photos to create a reconstruction showing what otherwise would be out of view.

“Imagine a building on fire,” he said. “You want to understand which rooms actually have people and which don’t. So it may make your rescue efforts much more efficient.”

There’s still more research to come, specifically to improve the technology’s speed and accuracy.

John said it will probably still be 10 to 20 years before the technology is ready to be adopted.