Virtual time-lapse photos can capture ultrafast phenomena

EPFL scientists have developed a new image-processing method that can capture extremely rapid phenomena using any type of camera. Their method, called Virtual Frame Technique, delivers better performance than any commercial high-speed camera and is affordable and accessible to anyone. Many phenomena occurring in nature and industry happen very quickly: a tear running through a piece of fabric, a rubber ball bouncing off a hard floor, a drop of water wetting a dry surface and a piece of scotch tape peeling off, for example. Capturing images of these phenomena would help scientists better understand them, but conventional cameras aren't fast enough - and high-speed cameras are prohibitively expensive. But scientists at EPFL's  Engineering Mechanics of Soft Interfaces Laboratory , working in association with Harvard University researchers in the  SMR lab , have developed a new imaging method called Virtual Frame Technique (VFT) that can generate thousands of images of these phenomena as they occur step by step, using a photo taken from any kind of device, including a smartphone. What's more, VFT has been shown to perform better than high-speed cameras. Working with a conventional photo The method starts by analyzing a conventional photo.