Future focus

In 2009, around a billion camera modules shipped worldwide in mobile phones, notebook computers and other consumer electronics devices. By 2012, analysts expect these module shipments to exceed two billion units.

Many of the modern camera modules found in such devices sport some form of auto-focus mechanism, where the lens of the camera is moved back and forth mechanically until the sharpest possible image of the subject is projected onto a CMOS imaging device that is then used to capture an image.

Commonly, such systems work by taking an input from a sensor, processing that signal with an embedded processor and using the result to control a mechanical voice coil actuator that automatically focuses the lens onto an object of interest.

Now, in an attempt to replace the electromechanical systems found in such devices with a solid-state alternative, California-based LensVector has built a tuneable liquid-crystal lens that it believes could become the de-facto standard for mobile devices over the next few years.