“Optical edge computing for speckle sensing interrogation” (2026), by Tomás Lopes et al. Computer Science research paper. Original abstract below, unchanged. A free PDF is available.

Optical edge computing for speckle sensing interrogation

Tomás Lopes, Joana M. Teixeira, Tiago D. Ferreira et al. · November 4, 2026 · Computer Science

Abstract

Speckle-based sensing exploits the rich environmental information of its high-dimensional spatial intensity patterns. However, the requirement for camera-based acquisition and subsequent electronic digitization introduces significant latency and bandwidth bottlenecks that forbid real-time operation and higher temporal resolutions. Aiming to bypass this imaging processing pipeline, this manuscript presents an optically reconfigurable edge-computing platform for speckle-based sensors that performs task-specific computation directly in the optical domain. This is achieved by projecting output speckle patterns onto a digital micromirror device, using it as a programmable optical layer whose parameters are trained in situ using an evolutionary optimization strategy solely from detector feedback. We demonstrate the concept with a multi-point optical fiber sensing task, where multiple piezoelectric actuators simultaneously perturb the fiber, modifying the speckle pattern. By optimizing a set of masks to decouple these concurrent signals, the system successfully achieves real-time signal separation, achieving a target signal enhancement exceeding 4 dB while suppressing crosstalk leakage below −10 dB. Operating with bandwidths limited only by the photodetector, this approach paves the way for real-time and ultrafast optical sensing via an optical edge computing solution.

Free PDF DOI: 10.1038/s44172-026-00809-y