Although the Kinect's camera works quickly, its light-based system is less precise than expensive single-point scanners, which use a laser to scan points across an entire scene or object. For example, unlike the Kinect, the laser on Cossairt's camera, can be sensed in the presence of the sun because it is much brighter than ambient light meaning his can be used effectively outdoors.
Cossairt's camera uses single-point scanning in a different way. Modelled after the human eye, it only scans parts of the scenes that have changed, making it faster and higher quality.
"If you send the same signal to your eye over and over, the neurons will stop firing," Cossairt said. "The neurons only fire if there is a change in your visual stimulus. We realised this principle could be really useful for a 3-D scanning system."
Cossairt believes his camera has many applications for devices in science and industry, such as in robotics, bioinformatics, augmented reality, and manufacturing automation
Cossairt's group received a Google Faculty Research Award to integrate their technology onto an experimental autonomous vehicle platform. This could see the technology used for navigation purposes, installed on anything from a car to a motorised wheelchair.
