Technology has been reforming at a good place in all most every area and photography is not an exception for it. When we look at the history of taking pictures a huge change can be known. You’ll find out the change by yourself when you read this Article.
Recently a thought of an aspiring mind had started a study on flexible camera. Why can’t the camera wrap around the things a question came to the mind of Dr.Shree Nayar.
Mr.Nayar, director for Computer Vision Lab of Columbia University. Studying on the science behind the photography that though appeared before him. Discussing with the fellow researchers and forming a team they had started research on the same.
The team includes Daniel Sims, Research Engineer at the lab and Yonghao Yue, a postdoctoral researcher along with Mr.Nayar. Taking the limitation of present Cameras which can take a picture from one point in space had created a flexible sheet camera which can wrap up things in many ways beyond your imagination.
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The team is exploring a relatively new approach for taking images, made an array of the flexible lens which can take unique pictures at different positions which wouldn’t have happened earlier.
The Flexible Sheet Camera consists of various blocks called pixels and each pixel having a small lens. But the drawback is that when the sheet is stretched the gap between the lenses would increase which results in missing information of the image.
Their initial idea to place lens for each and every pixel was also proved to be unsuccessful since it is tough to control all the pixels which are in millions. To avoid that problem they used silicone for the prototype sheet camera the native properties of the material allows adjusting the focal length of each lens depending on the curvature of the sheet. So, there is no chance of any gap and missing information can’t occur due to the deformation of the lens.
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Upon several stages of testing and experimentation, the usage of silicone went successfully. Choosing the right material and shape allows itself to deform. The optical properties of the silicone have the potential and quality to deform in any way.
In the process of testing the Silicone sheet camera, a Nikon D90 Camera is placed under the sheet. The images captured clearly shows the increase in field view more as it flexed.
The research process will go on as many application materials are highly flexible in nature. The adaptable character of these materials allows the flex-cam to be more viable.
The invention of the self-deforming camera is a big step in the field of photography which can be a foundation for future cameras. They made be like a rubber bumper around your car which can give you clear view of 360 degrees or it may be a in the size of credit card.
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Still a long way to go in this research, this team is looking for partners for the development of sensors. It also requires some money as well as time. They are trying to manufacture a cam which can be relatively cheaper for broad use.