Optical computing

Dozens of research workers in more than a hundred leading laboratories of the world are working on creating the foundations for a new field of engineering that promises to have a revolutionary impact on almost every field of science and technology. Resulting from the introduction of a variety of new techniques and devices¿including the laser¿as well as from the development of new photo-sensitive and electron-beam recording materials¿including thermoplastics, codable films, and mass-storage holographic memories¿this new technology, known as optical computing, is based upon mathematical concepts known as coherent or Fourier optics and holography. In terms of future developments and applications, the most dramatic results very likely will emerge from the implementation of real-time image processing in various forms. But the great power of optical computing derives primarily from its newly recognized capability of parallel processing, a natural property of the lens! In a general way, all aspects of this new field can be characterized by established concepts of electric and electronic signal processing and communications.