Although the principle of Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor is a long-used 3D method, it is now getting attention of mobile phone owners with high-quality cameras. What is this method of acquiring 3D data and what news does it bring to the world of smart devices?
Time-of-Flight is a type of sensor that measures the distance between itself and all objects that fall within its viewing angle, using light beams or ultrasound. However, light beam is used more often for this measurement method as it offers higher speed and larger bandwidth compared to ultrasound. Using the infrared spectrum also reduces the amount of noise, making it easier to distinguish the beam from normal daylight.
The time-of-flight sensor has a wide range of use in many fields. It is used to scan objects, navigate inside a building, to detect obstacles, detect gestures for 3D visualization and augmented reality, or even edit digital photos in real-time mode. The time-of-flight sensor is popular not only with IoT devices and drones but also with smart phones.
The time-of-flight sensor is a key to further enhancing the quality of mobile photos. Due to the very precisely measured distance of each pixel from the sensor, the background blur can look more natural. However, for good results, an extremely fine-tuned software is needed to handle this function and to use the sensor data correctly. So at this moment, it depends mainly on the manufacturers of individual phones.
Unlike other 3D scanning methods such as stereo shooting or structured light, the Time-of-Flight sensor provides real-time application thanks to up to 160 frames per second. Moreover, this technology is relatively inexpensive and not too complicated to process. It also offers the best resolution of all 3D methods.
ToF is actually nothing new. It has been experimented with this sensor for quite a long time. It can be found in the second generation of Kinect motion sensor from Microsoft. It is commonly used for LIDAR scanning of the Earth's surface, for autonomous vehicles or drones .
Recently, the ToF camera has been gradually getting into a wide range of mobile devices, with the aim of striking photo enhancement or augmented reality. There is also speculation about placing the ToF in the iPhone. However, several mobile devices are already equipped with Time-of-Flight . For example these recent models:
The Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor is used where it is necessary to accurately measure the depth or distance of an object. But it is also starting to appear in smartphones, helping to improve the overall enjoyment of photography or the use of virtual or augmented reality. In the future, we will hear a lot about the ToF sensor for sure.