Your next smartphone could have a camera that sees in three dimensions, opening up a new range of possibilities for apps ranging from fitness to photography.
Contenuti
- Getting a different view
- The 3D revolution
Researchers at Stanford University have created a novel approach that allows standard image sensors to see light in 3D. The technique would allow cameras to measure the distance to objects and make three-dimensional imaging widely available in smartphones.
“Existing 3D cameras need specialized pixels, which are difficult to realize in large formats and have smaller fill factors due to the complex electronics required to capture 3D in the pixels,” Okan Atalar, a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering at Stanford University and the first author on a new paper that describes the new system, told Digital Trends in an interview. “Our approach converts standard and highly advanced 2D sensors into 3D sensors as opposed to building them from the ground up.”
Getting a different view
Measuring distance between objects with light is currently possible only with specialized and expensive lidar — short for “light detection and ranging” – systems. Lidar uses a laser that shoots at objects and measures the light that bounces back. It can tell how far away the thing is, how fast it’s traveling, whether it’s moving closer or farther away and whether the paths of two moving objects will intersect.
The Stanford researchers’ new approach could enable megapixel-resolution lidar – a level that’s not possible today. Higher resolution would allow lidar to identify targets at a greater range.
One way to add 3D imaging to standard sensors is by adding a light source and a modulator that turns the light on and off millions of times every second. By measuring the variations in the light, engineers can calculate distance. Existing modulators require impractically large amounts of power.
The Stanford team solved the modulator problem by using a phenomenon known as acoustic resonance. The researchers built an acoustic modulator using a wafer of lithium niobate – a transparent crystal that is highly desirable for its electrical, auditory, and optical properties – coated with two transparent electrodes.
The new modulator’s design is simple and integrates into a proposed system that uses off-the-shelf cameras, like those in everyday cell phones and digital SLRs. Atalar and his advisor Amin Arbabian, an associate professor of electrical engineering and the project’s senior author, said it could become the basis for a new type of compact, low-cost, energy-efficient lidar, “standard CMOS lidar” as they call it, that could find its way into drones, extraterrestrial rovers, and other applications.
“Our approach could also work in the infrared regime,” Atalar said. “No IR image sensor can detect depth without requiring significant modifications.”
Apple includes lidar on its current iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max models. The company says the system offers better low-light focus and improves night portrait mode effects. The Stanford researchers said their lidar solution is less expensive to implement than the one used by Apple and could be installed on a wider range of phones.
Lidar scanning devices are used to determine the depth of a photo, Hans Hansen, the CEO of Brand 3D, a 3D photography company, told Digital Trends. By moving the camera around the object, the distances from multiple angles can be used to create a full 3D model. There’s also stereo photography where multiple cameras are placed apart (for example the three-camera lens module on Apple iPhone Pro phones) and then use the information to create a spatial image of a scene or an object.
“We’ve seen use cases from measuring the wall distance in your home and other spatial measurements,” Sukemasa Kabayama, the CEO of Uplift Labs, which uses 3D analysis to analyze human performance using smartphones, said to Digital Trends. “Although those are not 3D cameras specifically, these smartphone cameras have the power to capture valuable data and produce 3D visualizations using video and other applications.”
Recently, researchers from MIT developed ultra low power radars that use regular radar technology to detect distances to moving objects. This technology could eventually be suitable to make a new type of camera that would not be sensitive to light issues, e.g. when scanning transparent objects.
The 3D revolution
Widespread use of 3D technology could dramatically change photography, experts say.
“With 3D cameras, you would be able to capture scenes and objects that people remotely would be able to experience as if they were physically in the room,” Hansen said. “This would be groundbreaking for remote working, learning and for safe distances during pandemics, as well as for diagnosing, treating and repairing functions in healthcare, technology, and manufacturing sectors.”
Kabayama ha detto che l'imaging 3D raccolta dagli smartphone potrebbe fornire analisi e miglioramenti dettagliati su vari settori. Un'area in cui la tecnologia 3D potrebbe avere un impatto è sport, fitness e benessere.
"Se sei un junkie crossfit, il giocatore di golfista del fine settimana o un appassionato di Peloton, il rischio di lesioni fisiche è presente e per molte, una battaglia costante", ha aggiunto Kabayama. "Gli atleti professionisti hanno accesso alla tecnologia 3D che serve come un modo per ridurre al minimo le ferite correlate alle prestazioni, ma la maggior parte degli atleti di tutti i giorni non lo fanno."
Kabayama ha previsto che creando telecamere e analisi 3D accessibili tramite smartphone, gli atleti di tutti i set di abilità potrebbero tracciare e analizzare il loro movimento per ottenere un'analisi biomeccanica dettagliata.
"Con la maggior parte degli infortuni a causa di sovraesvision, forma impropria o altre cattive meccaniche del corpo, l'imaging 3D può rendere scorporare le aree di miglioramento - se sia forma o parti del corpo per rafforzare - un compito senza interruzioni", ha aggiunto.
Avere una fotocamera 3D sul tuo dispositivo mobile potrebbe anche renderlo più sicuro. Dopotutto, la sicurezza basata sul viso sui telefoni è buona come la fotocamera dietro di essa, Richard Carriere, un vicepresidente senior, e direttore generale di CyberLink, che rende la tecnologia di riconoscimento del viso, ha dichiarato in un'intervista.
ID viso Ad esempio, che molte persone usano per accedere ai conti sensibili come i conti bancari mobili, le e-mail di lavoro e la paga tramite smartphone, funziona sul sistema di telecamere di Tredepth di Apple. Le fotocamere 3D più avanzate che vengono al mercato sono in grado di catturare le letture profondità ancora più dettagliate, ha detto Carrere.
"La precisione migliorata non solo riduce il numero di volte che la tecnologia non riesce a scansionare correttamente la tua faccia, forse perché sei ad un angolo insolito, ma anche criticamente salvaguardando contro i tentativi di spoofing", ha aggiunto Carrere.
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