{"id":237624,"date":"2026-05-23T02:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/smartphones-may-soon-be-able-to-track-hidden-objects-using-lidar"},"modified":"2026-05-23T02:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:19:11","slug":"smartphones-may-soon-be-able-to-track-hidden-objects-using-lidar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/smartphones-may-soon-be-able-to-track-hidden-objects-using-lidar","title":{"rendered":"Smartphones may soon be able to track hidden objects using LiDAR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/smartphones-may-soon-be-able-to-track-hidden-objects-using-lidar2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Modern smartphones are packed with incredible technology, from high-resolution cameras and advanced graphics chips to AI processors. In premium models, this hardware includes LiDAR (light detection and ranging), which helps power augmented reality features and improve depth sensing.<\/p>\n<p>And that capability could soon be in for a seriously impressive upgrade. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed an algorithm that lets a phone\u2019s LiDAR sensor detect objects hidden around corners. Details are in a paper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-026-10502-x\" target=\"_blank\">published<\/a> in the journal Nature.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, this type of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) capability is found in labs and relies on bulky, expensive research-grade hardware. But the team\u2019s breakthrough makes it possible for consumer LiDAR sensors to peek behind obstacles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Modern smartphones are packed with incredible technology, from high-resolution cameras and advanced graphics chips to AI processors. In premium models, this hardware includes LiDAR (light detection and ranging), which helps power augmented reality features and improve depth sensing. And that capability could soon be in for a seriously impressive upgrade. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1498,41,1512,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-augmented-reality","category-information-science","category-mobile-phones","category-robotics-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237624\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}