--- title: "Ultra-Speed Caltech Camera Films Light Moving Through Space in 3D" description: "For the first time, researchers have figured out how to record videos of light moving in three dimensions, shooting at 100 billion frames a second." date: "2020-10-16" modified: "2020-10-16" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ultra-speed-camera-films-light-moving-through-space-3d" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "camera" - "Light" - "the digest" --- # Ultra-Speed Caltech Camera Films Light Moving Through Space in 3D ![For the first time, researchers have figured out how to record videos of light moving in three dimensions, shooting at 100 billion frames a second.]() *\Image: Images via Pixabay\* ## Big FPS For the first time, researchers at Caltech have figured out how to record videos of light moving in three dimensions. It shouldn't come as a surprise that a camera will need to have some beefy specs to pull that off. In fact, the one developed by Caltech professor Lihong Wang is capable of shooting videos at up to 100 billion frames per second. To put that into perspective, your average smartphone is limited to just 60. ## Stereo Vision Wang's newest camera called, which has the wordy moniker "single-shot stereo-polarimetric compressed ultrafast photography" (SP-CUP), builds on previous iterations that were capable of shooting at even faster rates, some of them capable of shooting [up to 70 trillion frames per second](). But what the new Caltech camera brings to the table is its ability to perceive the world more like humans can. The human eye's depth perception relies on there being two of them — and the new rig can pull off the same stereoscopic trick. "The camera is stereo now," Wang said in a statement. "We have one lens, but it functions as two halves that provide two views with an offset. Two channels mimic our eyes." ![]() ## Sonoluminescence Thanks to its added ability to tell the polarization of light, Wang is hoping it could illuminate what he calls one of the "greatest mysteries in physics": how sound waves create tiny bubbles inside liquids, releasing light when they burst — a process known as sonoluminescence. "The process that makes this happen is very mysterious because it all happens so fast, and we’re wondering if our camera can help us figure it out." **READ MORE:** [Fast Enough to See Light Travel: Ultrafast Camera Films 3-D Movies at 100 Billion Frames per Second]() \[California Institute Of Technology\] **More on ultra-speed cameras:** *[An Ultrafast Camera Filmed Electrons Interacting With Light Energy]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()