Visible light is only a tiny sliver of the total EM spectrum. Photography can capture UV to near IR or about 1.1 microns. Scanners can image from UV through the thermal IR band. Currently it is believed that this is not easily done, as tiny variables may shift a spectral response so that it is unreliable. Currently, people outperform computers in this area.
Object recognition is more of an art than a science.
Viewing a pair of adjacent images gives a 3-D effect. A parallax is the relative displacement of features on two overlapping photographs. Taking into account parallax, shadows of features found on a photo can be used to determine the heights of buildings as well as the time of day and year. As the name indicates, the Kelsh stereoplotter is of German origin. A stereophotograph was used to make a contour map by projecting contours onto a piece of paper then tracing them on a map.