Bell Labs is developing a new class of imaging device that does not require a lens, but instead uses a light sensitive sensor to create a high resolution image. A new technique known as compressive sensing minimizes redundancy to acquire data with carefully chosen measurements. The camera, which merely features an aperture assembly and a sensor, records images that are never out of focus. Additionally, when using two pixels instead of one, it can create two different images of the scene. Continue reading Bell Labs: Lensless Camera Records Multiple View Images

What will the smartphone of the future look like? According to Mark Rolston, creative director for Frog Design, the smartphone may be reaching the end of its evolution. This doesn’t mean small steps forward won’t be taken with hardware, software and design, but it is unlikely we’ll see any more innovative leaps, he suggests. And this doesn’t mean the smartphone will die, but we should expect it to become part of a world of connected devices. Continue reading The Smartphone of the Near Future Will Focus on Sensors

In the latest example of the rise of sensor news networks, John Keefe, the editor of WNYC’s Data News Team, conducted a project in which WNYC members bought temperature sensor hardware and reported their findings in an effort to predict when cicadas were to start their annual ascension above ground. Vast amounts of public data were gathered through inexpensive sensor hardware — a trend that’s been gaining steam. Continue reading Cicada Tracker is Latest Example of Sensor News Networks

PrimeSense, the company responsible for the 3D sensor inside the popular Microsoft Kinect gaming system, demonstrated new possibilities for its technology at CES. The company’s depth sensor Carmine is being put to use in a variety of applications outside of gaming, and a smaller version of the sensor may soon appear in smartphones and tablets. Continue reading PrimeSense Takes Sensor and Gesture Control to New Level

The future of content recommendation and even of editing movies could be at the tip of your finger. Technicolor is demonstrating an R&D project that detects a viewer’s emotional response to content by way of a small sensor worn against the skin of the hand. Biometric data, including heartbeat and temperature, helps measure viewer response. Continue reading CES 2013: Emotion is the Future of Content Discovery