Computational optical imaging: An overview

Computational optical imaging is an emerging research field to realize specific imaging functions and characteristics by jointly optimizing optical systems and signal processing. It is not a simple supplement to optical imaging and digital image processing, but rather an integrally combination of optical modulation at the front end (physical domain) and information processing at the back end (digital domain), where images and information are obtained through optical coding and mathematical modeling of the illumination and imaging system in a computationally reconfigurable manner. This new imaging mechanism is expected to break the limitations of traditional optical imaging technology on the optical system and image detector fabrication, manufacturing, operating conditions, power consumption, and cost, and significantly improve imaging function (phase, spectrum, polarization, light field, coherence, refractive index, 3D morphology, depth of field, blur recovery, digital refocusing, change of view angle), performance (spatial resolution, temporal resolution, spectral resolution, information dimension, sensitivity), reliability, and maintainability. At present, computational optical imaging has been developed into an emerging interdisciplinary research field that integrates geometric optics, information optics, computer vision, digital image processing, modern signal processing, etc., and has become an international research focus and hotspot in the field of optical imaging, representing the future development direction of advanced optical imaging technology. Many universities and research institutes at home and abroad are getting involved, making it a rapidly developing research field where "a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend". As the first article in the column "Computational optical imaging technology" of the special issue "Nanjing University of Science and Technology" for the Journal Infrared and Laser Engineering, this paper provides a general overview of historical evolution and development status of computational optical imaging, and looks forward to its future development direction and the core enabling technologies on which it relies, to throw bricks and attract jade.