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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Visual vibration analysis

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This dissertation shows how regular cameras can be used to record and analyze the vibrations of visible objects. Through careful temporal analysis, we relate subtle changes in video to the vibrations of recorded surfaces, and use that information to reason about the physical properties of objects and the forces that drive their motion. We explore several applications of our approach to extracting vibrations from video - using it to recover sound from distant surfaces, estimate the physical properties of visible objects, and even predict how objects will respond to new, previously unseen forces. Our work impacts a variety of fields, ranging from computer vision, to long-distance structural health monitoring and nondestructive testing, surveillance, and even visual effects for film. By imaging the vibrations of objects, we offer cameras as low-cost vibration sensors with dramatically higher spatial resolution than the devices traditionally used in engineering. In doing so, we turn every camera into a powerful tool for vibration analysis, and provide an exciting new way to image the world.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2016

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Davis, Myers Abraham
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Frédo Durand.

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107330
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/107330

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Davis, Myers Abraham. Visual vibration analysis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107330