NHK isn’t just Japan’s national TV broadcaster, but it’s also developing some pretty cool technology on its own. One example is a “millimeter-wave TV camera”, which takes images of objects (or people, for that matter) by using radio waves instead of visible light. The camera makes it possible to see objects “hidden” behind fog or plywood, for example, in the images.
Much like a radar, the camera, which is currently being developed by NHK’s Science and Technical Research Laboratories, emits millimeter waves in the 60GHz band towards the objects and captures the reflections. The device then time-separates signals coming from people who, for example are moving at a disaster site full of smoke or in foggy areas, from obstructions, making it possible to deliver images of just those people.
NHK says it currently tries to improve the camera, which is in prototype mode, in order to boost image quality and the frame rate.
Watch the video embedded below to see the NHK camera in action: