Microsoft Create 3D Depth Sensor from Single-Camera Smartphone

Microsoft are tinkering with camera technology once again. Their Kinect technology may not be a smash hit with consumers as they once hoped it would be, but the underlying technology is not something they’re about to give up on.

Using a simple mod that can be added to any smartphone or web cam the team were able to create a working prototype of their motion sensor. It’s capable of detecting fine movements, facial animations and more, even under a multitude of lighting conditions and it’ll do it at a significantly reduced cost compared to solutions such as the Kinect.

“We present a machine learning technique for estimating absolute, per-pixel depth using any conventional monocular 2D camera, with minor hardware modifications,” said the team, “our approach targets close-range human capture and interaction where dense 3D estimation of hands and faces is desired.” they added.

It’s an impressive party trick for a single lens camera and this could pave the way for some pretty advanced tricks in the smartphone market over the next couple of years. Especially given the current rise in popularity for VR tech in all its shapes and forms.

Thank you Wired for providing us with this information.

Image courtesy of Wired.