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Scientists have found a way to equip everyday objects like smartphones and laptops with a bat-like sense of their surroundings.
At the heart of the technique is a sophisticated machine-learning algorithm which uses reflected echoes to generate images, similar to the way bats navigate and hunt using echolocation.
The algorithm measures the time it takes for blips of sound emitted by speakers or radio waves pulsed from small antennas to bounce around inside an indoor space and return to the sensor. A diagram showing the experimental setup which allows the researchers’ algorithm to convert sound into images
By cleverly analysing the results, the algorithm can deduce the shape, size and layout of a room, as well as pick out in the presence of objects or people. The results are displayed as a video feed which turns the echo data into three-dimensional vision.