Flexible sheet camera could wrap around objects

According to its developers, the technology could have a range of applications, such as providing enhanced driver awareness by wrapping around the exterior of a car. The sheet camera could also be placed around a lamppost in a public area, providing video images from all directions.

"Cameras today capture the world from essentially a single point in space," said Shree K. Nayar, Professor of Computer Science at Columbia Engineering and the research lead.

"While the camera industry has made remarkable progress in shrinking the camera to a tiny device with ever increasing imaging quality, we are exploring a radically different approach to imaging. We believe there are numerous applications for cameras that are large in format but very thin and highly flexible."

The technology relies on a flexible lens array that adapts its optical properties when the sheet camera is bent. Bending an array of rigid lenses would lead to gaps in the images captured, resulting in what are known as aliased images. By using an elastic material for the array, the focal length of each lens can vary as the sheet is bent, preventing aliasing from occurring.