Visibility Through Foliage - A Plenoptic Sensor for Riverine Operations Navy SBIR FY2008.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2008.1 Topic No.: N08-048 Topic Title: Visibility Through Foliage - A Plenoptic Sensor for Riverine Operations Proposal No.: N081-048-1073 Firm: Nanohmics, Inc 6201 East Oltorf St. Suite 400 Austin, Texas 78741-7511 Contact: Byron Zollars Phone: (512) 389-9990 Web Site: www.nanohmics.com Abstract: The threat of attack from within obscuring foliage is a very real threat to U.S. riverine craft or other marine operations close to shore. Generally, this asymmetric situation allows opposing forces to hide undetected within or behind bushes and trees until an opportune moment for attack. On the other hand, shipboard personnel are relatively exposed and well-lit by sunlight, and have difficulty obtaining any visibility of impending attack. Technology that is able to provide visibility into the foliage at water's edge can provide warning of suspicious activity, allowing the marine craft to assume a defensive posture or take pre-emptive action. Nanohmics proposes to build an electro-optical imaging device (called the ThruViewT) capable of producing imagery within dense stands of brush, bushes, and trees. The innovative imaging system is based on hardware which records the four-dimensional light-field from objects in the field of view, providing real-time back-end processing to form images of objects that may be mostly obscured by intervening foliage. The optical system is analogous to synthetic-aperture radar or holography, and can operate in the visible, SWIR, and/or MWIR portions of the spectrum. Benefits: The principal customers for the ThruView system will likely be DoD and other military agencies that need to image through conditions in which significant obscuration exists. Demand from law enforcement officials for activity monitoring or scene mapping could also provide a commercial source of revenue. Another application involves metrology of as-built structures or plants, and there is a wide industrial need for mapping and measurement of as-built structures to verify conformance with designs, plans, and building codes. Return