Reading the invisible with high tech imaging

Modern imaging technique is still in infancy, it seems, and new approaches with new results are discovered on a regular base.

One of the latest I came across is MSI, Multispectral Imaging Work, where objects are photographed under individual colors of light including some that are not perceived by the human eye. By using MSI, it is possible to isolate the picture one single color at the time. At this stage, the computer is set to work to determine the differences and pull out the subtle details we otherwise could not see.

[Picture from Duke Universities Library]

The technicality of this procedure is very well detailed in this article published by The Daily Mail.

One of the amazing aspects is that this technique allows us to read texts that have been erased previously and written over later on. It also is very useful  in finding hidden texts on ancient and reused parchments.