The era of digital camera is going to escalate to new heights very soon. As a part of recent breakthrough innovation, Duke University researchers have stitched together 98 "microcameras" into a 50-gigapixel monster called AWARE 2, reports Nature magazine. The camera has been made from off-the-shelf components and can capture photographs with a mind-melting resolution of one billion pixels.
According to the reports, developers have informed that, it is not the world's first gigapixel camera, but it is the smallest (size of a dishwasher) and fastest and opens up prospects for improving airport security, military surveillance and even online sports coverage.
The researchers have been quoted in the Nature Magazine report saying, "Ubiquitous gigapixel cameras may transform the central challenge of photography from the question of where to point the camera to that of how to mine the data."
AWARE 2's resolution is described as "five times better" resolution than normal human vision.
Rather than improve the optics of the camera, the researchers focused on the electronics: its 120-inch horizontal field is made of 98 individual "microcameras" each with a 14 megapixel sensor. The optics is fairly straightforward by comparison: one objective lens, with micro-lenses routing different components of the field of view to individual microcameras.
These individual images are then assembled into a single image using software. The full specifications of AWARE 2 can be found in link here, with a bunch of example images, found on the link here.
For now, the camera is too large and expensive for general use. It looks more like a high-tech stereo speaker than a camera. But the scientists believe that their prototype will lead quickly to a smaller next-generation camera that can be used by security companies and enthusiasts alike, ushering in a new era of gigapixel photography.
As a part of credential information, David Brady, an engineer at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and his colleagues are developing the AWARE-2 camera with funding from the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
