Virtual Eye

Virtual Eye allows soldiers to explore an unsecured space in 3D from a safe distance before entering.

14:57 27 June 2016

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is providing US soldiers with Virtual Eye, a technology that uses two cameras allowing them to explore an unsecured place in 3D from a safe distance before entering.  Users navigate a virtual map using a controller that connects to a laptop.

 

The technology can also be used by first responders to safely scope out the area before rescuing people trapped inside any structure.

 

Trung Tran, the program manager leading Virtual Eye's development for DARPA's Microsystems technology office, said that DARPA began Virtual Eye by asking 'can we do more with the information we have and is it possible to gain more information using the cameras we already have. He added: 

'We can create a 3D image by looking at the differences between two images, understanding the differences and fusing them together.'

 

'Understanding what we see is critical to making the right decisions in the battlefield,' says Tran.

 

The software relies on NIVIDIA Tesla K20 GPU accelerators that combine all the images into one view and extrapolate 3D data to fill in any blanks.