Debasmita
Member • Apr 13, 2016
Flexible Cameras with Superior Imaging Ability To Soon Become A Reality
Imaging technology has developed exponentially over the recent past owing to the emergence of cutting edge technologies and innovative methodology. All over the world, research departments have concentrated on the miniaturisation of camera lenses to the nano scale. However, recently a team of computer scientists led by Shree K. Nayar from the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has engineered a camera which has a very distinct structure, much like a sheet of glossy paper. It can be easily glued to an object by wrapping it around the target and can then be controlled to capture events in accordance.
Professor Nayar explained that the uniqueness of their research objective lies in the fact that the sheet like camera can adjust its optical properties, depending on the angle at which it was bent. Such adaptability lets the device work accurately and generate high quality images over a broad spectrum of sheet deformation. He further added that whereas the conventional cameras can shoot from a single point, the malleable product can capture at different angles with an unimaginable field of view.
A flexible lens array that adapts its optical properties
Dubbed as “Flex-camâ€, the futuristic technology is highly dependent on a flexible detector array and a thin optical system that can project a high-quality image directly over the array. To fix some of their prior miscalculations, the team ultimately fabricated an elastic lens in an array format whose focal length adaptably varies according to the curvature of the sheet, successfully removing previous restrictive “gaps†in its images.
The team initially released its prototype version made up of silicon and manipulated its original geometry to an extent, so as to derive exactly what was required. The research was performed under Nayar's Computer Vision Laboratory and was funded by the Office of Naval Research. The complete report will be soon published in between May 13 to May 15 at the International Conference on Computational Photography (ICCP) at the Northwestern University in Evanston.
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Professor Nayar explained that the uniqueness of their research objective lies in the fact that the sheet like camera can adjust its optical properties, depending on the angle at which it was bent. Such adaptability lets the device work accurately and generate high quality images over a broad spectrum of sheet deformation. He further added that whereas the conventional cameras can shoot from a single point, the malleable product can capture at different angles with an unimaginable field of view.
A flexible lens array that adapts its optical properties
Dubbed as “Flex-camâ€, the futuristic technology is highly dependent on a flexible detector array and a thin optical system that can project a high-quality image directly over the array. To fix some of their prior miscalculations, the team ultimately fabricated an elastic lens in an array format whose focal length adaptably varies according to the curvature of the sheet, successfully removing previous restrictive “gaps†in its images.
The team initially released its prototype version made up of silicon and manipulated its original geometry to an extent, so as to derive exactly what was required. The research was performed under Nayar's Computer Vision Laboratory and was funded by the Office of Naval Research. The complete report will be soon published in between May 13 to May 15 at the International Conference on Computational Photography (ICCP) at the Northwestern University in Evanston.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#