Comment The US Government will buy the patents (Score 1) 99
A breakthrough that could dramatically improve infrared imaging (functionality, form factor, etc.) will be patent controlled by the US Government for military and then some aftermarket product no where near the mil-specs. The ability see in the dark is awesomely powerful to military operations.
I've researched infrared sensors (Arduino), but the easily available ones are 8x2 or 4x4 PIXELS resolutions, only good for a few feet (great for detecting heat loss in a home). I wanted to piece together a campsite intrusion alarm and looked into radar, infrared, and motion based sensors. Nothing in a reasonable price range is available beyond 20 yards or so (I wanted 50 yards, with the sensor array pole mounted in the center of my campsite). Now I'm looking into a campsite weather station...
And I can't blame the US for controlling such technology. I would if I were running things, same for military satellite imaging. These are strategic and operational assets of the highest order.
At the same time, I believe that military spending should be cut considerably, such a move would increase the importance of such technologies, they are effectively force multipliers.