Your next Android phone could have better depth sensing cameras with Qualcomm announcing new Spectra camera tech for mobile devices and head mounted displays (HMD) overnight.
Qualcomm introduced the Spectra module program last year, but this new announcement now includes new camera modules which Qualcomm says are ‘capable of utilizing active sensing for superior biometric authentication, and structured light for a variety of computer vision applications that require real-time, dense depth map generation and segmentation’.
There are far reaching implications for the new technology which can collect 10,000 points of depth, with the space between each point a mere 0.1 millimetres. The technology is able to render 3D models in real time from a single capture angle as shown off in the demo video:
The second generation Spectra modules include three camera modules says Qualcomm: an iris authentication module, a passive depth sensing module and an active depth sensing module.
There are a number of implications for this new technology from better technology for authentication including face unlock, hand or body part tracking and other things like even self-driving cars – an industry which is very much dependent on real-time tracking.
Qualcomm says we’ll be seeing the new and improved technology in their next generation of Snapdragon processors, so expect to see this in your next flagship smartphone next year.
