"We want to design imaging systems that allow us to capture information that's beyond the human eye," he said.

The scattered-light imaging technology is a significant example of such a system. It provides a possible answer to an old optical imaging problem — how to get information about environments obstructed from view — and comes with a wide array of potential applications. According to Velten, the technology could be used whenever "you need to know what's in a room, and you don't have the resources, or it's too dangerous, to put someone in that room."

During natural disasters, like an earthquake, the camera could be deployed to scan rooms for survivors in an unstable apartment building, said Velten. On an assembly line, if a manufacturer wants to examine the inside of a machine with lots of moving parts, the camera would also come in handy.

The applications extend to robotics as well. Velten said that this kind of technology could make a huge impact in the effectiveness of self-driving cars, for example. He added that NASA had even talked with his team to discuss the potential of the technology to help researchers map out tricky-to-explore caves on the moon.