Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

[Still Waters]

Micro-sized cameras have great potential to spot problems in the human body and enable sensing for super-small robots, but past approaches captured fuzzy, distorted images with limited fields of view.

Now, researchers at Princeton University and the University of Washington have overcome these obstacles with an ultracompact camera the size of a coarse grain of salt. The new system can produce crisp, full-color images on par with a conventional compound camera lens 500,000 times larger in volume, the researchers reported in a paper published Nov. 29 in Nature Communications.

Enabled by a joint design of the camera's hardware and computational processing, the system could enable minimally invasive endoscopy with medical robots to diagnose and treat diseases, and improve imaging for other robots with size and weight constraints. Arrays of thousands of such cameras could be used for full-scene sensing, turning surfaces into cameras.

https://phys.org/news/2021-11-camera-size-salt-grain.html

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26443-0

[+Nuclear Wessel]

I am interested in seeing the limits tested for cameras over the next decade or so. Creating cameras at the nano scale, for example, would have significant implications for nanobots. Fascinating stuff.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327334313_Nano-cameras_a_key_enabling_technology_for_the_internet_of_multimedia_nano-things#:~:text=Nanotechnology is enabling the development,to hundreds of cubic nanometers.&text=This paper introduces the concept,photodetectors%2C lenses and electronic circuitry.

[+OverSword]

They sell it as medical but do you suppose they may also be developing versions for espionage?  Public surveillance?  Sorry, there is no way I can read about this without me coming up with a conspiracy theory 

[Tatetopa]

16 minutes ago, OverSword said:

They sell it as medical but do you suppose they may also be developing versions for espionage?

No doubt somebody is. Between Siri and an iphone, there is already plenty of surveillance.  Plus of course every time you put your fingers on a keyboard, you are giving somebody  information.  Some people already trust Mark Zuckerberg with all of their personal secrets and Jeff Bezos wants to supply everyone not only with food and personal items but all of your prescription drugs as well.  Elon Musk wants to own space and all of our communications.

People frequently spout off about how incompetent our government is, but spend a lot less time thinking about how remarkably competent and secretive the big tech companies are. and how much control they continue to gain in our lives.

[+OverSword]

6 minutes ago, Tatetopa said:

No doubt somebody is. Between Siri and an iphone, there is already plenty of surveillance.  Plus of course every time you put your fingers on a keyboard, you are giving somebody  information.  Some people already trust Mark Zuckerberg with all of their personal secrets and Jeff Bezos wants to supply everyone not only with food and personal items but all of your prescription drugs as well.  Elon Musk wants to own space and all of our communications.

People frequently spout off about how incompetent our government is, but spend a lot less time thinking about how remarkably competent and secretive the big tech companies are. and how much control they continue to gain in our lives.

Damn.  I couldn't find my hair cream in the store so ordered it from Amazon.  They know too much 

But seriously, you are correct.  On Saturday I went to the Farmers Market where a crafts guy was selling t-shirts silk screened with coffee.  He used a device that accepted my debit card through a service called Square.  After I walked away I received a text containing my receipt.  They knew my phone number (which I avoid giving out at all cost) based on my debit card payment.  I don't even want to think exactly how that happened or how widely our information is spread.

Edited November 30, 2021 by OverSword

[Michelle]

I can go to a website I've never ordered anything from and they know all of my information by the time I put in the first two letters of my first name. The rest fills out automatically.

[Buzz_Light_Year]

18 hours ago, Michelle said:

I can go to a website I've never ordered anything from and they know all of my information by the time I put in the first two letters of my first name. The rest fills out automatically.

That is probably just a feature you've enabled on the browser you use.

[Michelle]

2 hours ago, Buzz_Light_Year said:

That is probably just a feature you've enabled on the browser you use.

Nope. Every time a site says "remember me?" I click no. We would never make something with our credit card numbers automatic.

[Buzz_Light_Year]

30 minutes ago, Michelle said:

Nope. Every time a site says "remember me?" I click no. We would never make something with our credit card numbers automatic.

You still need to check your auto fill settings in your browser. Firefox is in Privacy and Security Section under Forms and Autofill.

MS Edge https://appuals.com/enable-or-disable-autofill-in-microsoft-edge/

Edited December 1, 2021 by Buzz_Light_Year