New technique turns smartphone cameras into hyperspectral sensors using a simple card

The human eye is mostly sensitive to only three bands of the electromagnetic spectrum—red, green, and blue (RGB)—in the visible range.

Off-the-shelf smartphone camera sensors are potentially hyperspectral in nature, meaning that each pixel is sensitive to far more spectral bands.

Now scientists have found a simple way for any conventional smartphone camera to serve as a hyperspectral sensor—by placing a card with a chart on it within its view.

The new patent-pending technique may find applications in defense, security, medicine, forensics, agriculture, environmental monitoring.