Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. have developed a new computer algorithm that has the ability to eliminate unnecessary reflections that appear in digital images.

When capturing a photo through a window using a camera, objects or environments that are situated behind the window will appear in the image.

Like Us on Facebook

The new computer algorithm developed at the MIT aims to help photographers and users to easily fix this problem.

Yichang Shih, a computer scientist at the MIT, said, "In Boston, the windows are usually double-paned windows for heat isolation during the winter,"

"With that kind of window, there's one reflection coming from the inner pane and another reflection from the outer pane." Shih added.

"But thick windows are usually enough to produce a double reflection, too. The inner side will give a reflection, and the outer side will give a reflection as well."

"You have an image from outdoor and another image from indoor, and what you capture is the sum of these two pictures," Shih explained.

"If A+B is equal to C, then how will you recover A and B from a single C? That's mathematically challenging. We just don't have enough constraints to reach a conclusion."

The researchers have incorporated a technique that was co-developed by computer scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. This technique uses an algorithm capable of dividing photos into 8 by 8 blocks of pixels, according to a report.

Electrical engineer and Professor Yoav Schechner at the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) said that in the past, many approaches were developed to try and remove reflections from images but were partially successful.

He added that the new algorithm does a better job and may one day be part of toolboxes in digital photography, including robotic vision that will help robots identify glass reflection.

TagsAlgorithm can remove reflections in images, Algorithm, Reflections, MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, camera, photos, Photography, Boston, Israel, Robot Vision