High-Dimensional Imaging: Co-Optimizing Photonics, Sensors & Algorithms for Rich Scene Capture

Abstract

We present a new paradigm in imaging that unifies inverse-designed optics, unconventional sensors, and machine learning to directly capture high-dimensional scene information—spectrum, polarization, depth, coherence, temporal dynamics—at the point of acquisition. By co-designing nanostructured optical encoders with event-based and conventional sensors, our systems map rich physical features into compact, photon-efficient measurements, decoded in real time. Applications span astronomy, biomedical diagnostics, remote sensing, and industrial inspection. This approach moves beyond traditional “image-then-analyze” pipelines toward intelligent, task-specific imagers that maximize information capture while minimizing size, weight, power, and latency.

About the ICCS seminar series

The ICCS seminar series is designed to bring together members of our community across the world. The Seminars are being curated to provide academic exploration and inspiration, offering insights into a range of topics surrounding communications and connected systems. Topics will either explore subjects close to the work of our academics or introduce wider concepts from experts in the global academic and industrial community.

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Format 

The seminar will begin with a presentation aimed at a technical audience, but at a level that will be accessible to those from a range of engineering disciplines. Speakers have been asked to end their presentations with a technical challenge or delving deeper into the content to engage those more invested in the topic. 

The seminar series is designed to offer a compact exploration of ranging topics and is therefore short in format.