Researchers at MIT, Microsoft, and Adobe have developed an algorithm that can reconstruct an audio signal by analyzing minute vibrations of objects depicted in video. In one set of experiments, they were able to recover intelligible speech from the vibrations of a potato-chip bag photographed from 15 feet away through soundproof glass.

“When sound hits an object, it causes the object to vibrate”, says Abe Davis, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT and first author on the new paper.

“The motion of this vibration creates a very subtle visual signal that’s usually invisible to the naked eye”.

…And over at the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, the collective sound of a hundred breathy exclamations of inappropriate ecstasy can be heard. At least if you have Abe Davis’ phone number on your cell.

Photo via Christine Daniloff/MIT.
Via MIT News for the full article.