Scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in the United States have developed a camera that can tell the location of objects using reflected light to locate objects, and could provide self-driving vehicles with a way to see around corners. Whereas regular vision, be it biological or mechanical, relies on light, so-called CornerCameras capture changes in lighting by using the penumbra — the shadow created by light which is reflected on the ground and directly in the line of sight of the camera from objects obscured around a corner. The camera is able to patch together subtle changes in these shadows and arrange them into an image, which it uses to locate the position of the object. Although the CornerCameras worked in a range of challenging situations, including weather conditions like rain, they still has some limitations: for obvious reasons, it doesn’t work if there’s no light in the scene, and can have issues if there’s low light in the hidden scene itself, and can also get tripped up if light conditions change, for example if the scene is outdoors and clouds are constantly moving across the sun. To find out more check out An algorithm for your blind spot.