Basic slit spectroscope reveals three-dimensional scenes through diagonal slices of hyperspectral cubes

Abstract

A basic slit spectroscope is usually held close to the eye to produce the spectrum of a single slit view. However, a more distant viewer may have multiple slit views at once, an effect of dispersion that has been overlooked. Investigations of spectroscopic image geometry reveal that the maximum field of view equals the dispersion angle. Spectrally decoded camera-obscura projections compose three-dimensional images of a scene, emulating a Benton hologram. The images represent diagonal sections of a hyperspectral datacube. Consequently, the spectroscope can be used as an autostereoscopic display and for a fourth technique of hyperspectral data acquisition, named spatiospectral scanning.

© 2014 Optical Society of America