Infrared camera monitors and thermal imaging helmets currently used by firefighters can see through thick smoke but require lenses that can be blinded by intense fire. Pietro Ferraro and colleagues from the National Institute of Optics in Italy have built an infrared laser holography system to solve that problem.
The beam reflects off any objects, including people. The data is then decoded to create a 3D model of everything in the area. "Perhaps most importantly, we demonstrated for the first time that a holographic recording of a live person can be achieved even while the body is moving," Ferraro said.