Vision-Driven Metasurfaces for Perception Enhancement

Abstract

Abstract Metasurfaces have exhibited unprecedented degree of freedom (DOF) in manipulating electromagnetic (EM) waves and thus provide fantastic front-end interfaces for smart systems. In this work, we present a framework for perception enhancement based on vision-driven metasurface. Under this framework, human's eye movements are matched up with microwave radiations using metasurface, which synergizes visual information and invisible microwave information to extend the spectrum of humans' perception. By this means, information that cannot be obtained using our eyes can be "sensed", such as physiological signals, hidden motions and speech. Such a framework offloads the vision system to improve information acquisition ability and also allows for other advanced features such as disability healthcare. Several experimental demonstrations are given for specific implementations of this framework, including a physiological-signal-monitoring system, an "X-ray-eye" system, a "glimpse-and-forget" tracking system and a barrier-free speech reception system for deaf people. Both the simulation and experiment results verify the perception enhancement effects of this framework, which exhibits evident advantages in improving acquisition efficiency of visual information. In addition, this framework can be readily integrated into healthcare systems to monitor physiological signals and to offer assistance for people with disabilities. This work provides an alternative framework for perception enhancement and may find wide applications in healthcare, new-generation communication, wearable devices, search-and-rescue and others.