3D Sensing

Medium

Was posted on Reddit, scraped to be sure it can be retained, looking for a translation of the slides.

The Face ID feature of Apple's iPhone X has raised the industry's concern for 3D sensing. Not only Apple, but also large companies including Microsoft, Intel, Google, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments are competing to invest in the development of 3D sensing. What is the principle? What are the industry chain? What are the applications and opportunities in the future? The science and technology research institute, Consolidated Science and Technology, made a simple analysis with charts.

The most important and difficult part of 3D sensing technology lies in the ability to accurately measure distances. Each algorithm has different patent barriers, and each component of the 3D sensing module has slight differences.


In addition to Stereo Vision basically using a smart phone with a dual-lens design, either structured light or fly-by-range ranging technologies require IR transmitters, receiver modules, and RGB modules. Now, as soon as you hear 3D sensing, VCSELs will be mentioned. It is actually the source of IR light for the module.

3D sensing has a wide range of applications. In addition to biometrics, home automation, robots, wearable devices, computers, games, televisions, and automobiles are all fields where 3D sensing can be applied.

From the point of view of smart phones alone, the business opportunities for 3D sensing began last year with iPhone X and is expected to slowly ferment.

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