Depth-sensing technology has so far been implemented in smartphones very sparingly. Google Tango smartphones all come with depth-sensing cameras that can analyse and environment and use it for augmented reality applications. While even the next iPhone is going to be featuring depth-sensor tech, Qualcomm is going to be making introducing its very own.
According to reports, Qualcomm has just announced an upgrade of its depth-sensor tech to Spectra. With this additional feature by Qualcomm, even simple photos will look extraordinary with depth-sensing. For example, it could improve the depth-of-field and the quality of the bokeh. The tech will also allow for users to change the focus of the image even after the photo has been snapped.
How Qualcomm’s new spectra sensing will do this is by saving the depth sensing data of the image for later use in the form of a “depth map” that will be attached to the image itself. The sensor which will be made by Qualcomm is going to make it easier for smartphone makers to adapt that tech into the newer dual-camera smartphones that we will be seeing in the coming years.
Qualcomm will be bringing this new tech in three different kinds of modules under their Spectra Module Program. They are, an iris-identifying front-facing option, an entry-level computer vision module as well as a premium computer vision kit. As their names suggest, the latter of the three modules will feature passive and active depth-sensing using the company’s new image signal processing architecture.
The premium kit will be the most feature-packed, offering active depth-sensing which includes an infrared illuminator, IR camera and a 16MP RGB camera. All of these different sensors work together to make a depth map that will be able to identify the subject and differentiate between the points of distance. The new camera modules will be able to capture 10,000 points of depth in the image.
The new modules will also be made useful in VR systems as well, which do not need to be tethered to computers. As far as strategy is concerned, Qualcomm’s announcement comes ahead of the iPhone 8’s announcement which will also feature the same tech, hopefully stealing Apple’s thunder for the actual launch date. The company does say that the new tech will be made available in the Snapdragon 836, which is rumored to feature on the next Google Pixel device. The possibilities that Spectra will open up for future smartphones will include better image quality and more easier access to augmented and virtual reality capabilities.