Extremely Small Nano Cams Could Replace iPhone's Ugly Camera Bumps

We all hate camera bumps that make the back of your phones look awkward and clunky. If you're one of us, respite may be coming your way soon.

Nano cameras could soon be spotted on a flagship device. How nano, you wonder? Smaller than a grain of salt, according to BGR. While smartphone cameras have already replaced the so-called professional cameras, it seems that soon we might see a unibody nano camera smartphone design.

Princeton

A revolutionary design

Researchers from Princeton and University of Washington have come up with a way to make this far-fetched imagination a reality. While you and I may be thinking of advanced smartphone photography sans the ugly camera bumps, such tech could revolutionise medicine and robotics.

The extremely small camera is equipped with 1.6 million cylindrical posts that help it process light. Bonus? The nano camera chip can be produced like traditional computer chips and its clarity is dependent on smart algorithms.

Also read: Researchers Create 'See Through' Holographic Camera To Make Autonomous Cars Safer

Princeton/BGR

Detailed in a paper in Nature Communications, the new gen of nano cameras solve a key with existing nano camera technology which is used in medicine and robotics. The current ones create fuzzy unclear images with very limited fields of view. Essentially, you would never want a camera like that on your smartphone.

But with the new nano cameras, researchers were able to take images that compared favourably to conventional cameras, i.e., clearer and about 500,000 times larger.

Enter Metasurface

The new tech used in these nano cameras is called "metasurface" wherein curved lenses inside a traditional camera are placed by nano cams. Just half a milimetre wide, the nano cam includes 1.6 million cylindrical posts, each of which has a unique geometry.

Also read: Doctor Uses iPhone 13 Pro Max Camera's Macro Mode For Patient's Eye Treatment

Essentially, entire surfaces could be turned into cameras. Instead of having the hideous camera bumps on the back of your expensive device, the entire back of your phone would function as one big giant camera, with help from nano cams.

9to5Mac

What do you think about this groundbreaking camera tech that could change the game for smartphone photography? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

For more in the world of tech and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

Citation

Smith, C. (2021, December 1). Revolutionary nano cameras as small as a grain of salt took these photos. BGR.