LiDAR sensor on iPhone 12 Pro! Why?
“Apple launched its iPad Pro 2020, with this LiDAR sensor earlier this year and now it’s there on their latest smartphone models, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max”
LiDAR — Light Detection And Ranging (Thanks Google, for the full-form)
Is basically a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a laser beam to measure several characteristics of objects,
What a LiDAR sensor does is, it shoots out the laser beams and marks the time they come back, from this it gathers in the distance and depth of the objects and hence much useful while depth photography and in Augmented Reality (AR) applications too!
Amm... Not as fast as this cat! But yeah, quite fast!
For a long time, LiDAR founds its uses in aircraft, military applications, and ships. It also finds places in autonomous vehicles and self-driving cars especially for navigating while traveling on roads with safety!
But, these days it has also been finding space in consumer gadgets such as smartphones and tablets,
Though Samsung smartphones such as Galaxy S20 Ultra & Galaxy Note 10 Plus are already having Time of Flight (ToF) sensors which can judge the depth and distance for a higher quality level of depth photography using the speed of light to measure distance, and effectively counting the amount of time it takes for a reflected beam of light to return to the sensor!
So, Why LiDAR if there’s ToF?
A) ToF uses a single beam of infrared light whereas, LiDAR uses multiple laser pulses to scan various parts of the field effectively so it can have a richer picture quality!
B) It takes portrait mode shots with extra depth and perfect blurring of backgrounds while keeping primary subjects in focus, this could be delivering photos that may compete with the quality of a DSLR camera photos!
C) And this sensor is improving AR games too! (BTW, this is AR Angry Birds!)
D) You can perfectly measure objects and also your height!
E) Test furniture for your house using AR apps in a more perfect way!
Well, all these things seem trivial but yes it’s making us future proof because the world is moving towards AR/VR!
References: Tomsguide
