This technique could lead to safer autonomous vehicles, more efficient AR/VR headsets, or faster warehouse robots.

Imagine driving through a tunnel in an autonomous vehicle, but unbeknownst to you, a crash has stopped traffic up ahead. Normally, you’d need to rely on the car in front of you to know you should start braking. But what if your vehicle could see around the car ahead and apply the brakes even sooner?

Researchers from MIT and Meta have developed a computer vision technique that could someday enable an autonomous vehicle to do just that.

https://news.mit.edu/2024/researchers-leverage-shadows-model-3d-scenes-blocked-objects-0618