Saturday, January 20, 2007

A Breakthrough in Optical Processing

The holy grail in information processing is the ability to harness light waves for use in computers and fiber optics. Using light waves for information processing has proven elusive.

The Washington Post has published an article indicating that a team at the University of Rochester has demonstrated a means for harnessing light waves in a way that could prove useful for information processing. Here's a quote:

Optical image processing could allow automated comparisons of facial images from security cameras to images maintained by law enforcement officials. It could also become a valuable tool for scientists studying subtle changes in microbes or other kinds of cells over time.

Optical processing also is likely to ease the storage of holographic images directly on hardware and could lead to breakthroughs in cryptography, the science of making and breaking codes.

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