ACTIVE-EYES: an adaptive pixel-by-pixel image-segmentation sensor architecture for high-dynamic-range hyperspectral imaging.

The ACTIVE-EYES (adaptive control for thermal imagers via electro-optic elements to yield an enhanced sensor) architecture, an adaptive image-segmentation and processing architecture, based on digital micromirror (DMD) array technology, is described. The concept provides efficient front-end processing of multispectral image data by adaptively segmenting and routing portions of the scene data concurrently to an imager and a spectrometer. The goal is to provide a large reduction in the amount of data required to be sensed in a multispectral imager by means of preprocessing the data to extract the most useful spatial and spectral information during detection.