Scientists invent tiny camera without lenses called Planar Fourier Capture Array

Gadget Herald: A new camera invented by a team at Cornell University is reported to be free of lenses or any moving parts. The surprising part of this new device is that making the camera isn’t expensive at all and could be like a revolution in the conducting of surgeries and robotics.

Assistant Professor of electrical and computer engineering, Alyosha Molnar, was the one in whose laboratory the camera was invented in Cornell. The unique camera has the capability to resolve images of about 20 pixels.

The images may not be of a portrait quality, but are impressive enough to shed light on the objects that were earlier hard to see. The camera looks like a flat piece of doped silicon, which may resemble a compact disk.

It is unbelievably small compared to the regular small cameras, which need bulky focusing optics. Patrick Gill, who was also involved in the invention, said that it will not be just a camera to take family pictures, but will also involve several applications. The inventors have called the camera as Planar Fourier Capture Array as it is based on the principles of Fourier transformation. The Fourier transformation is a mathematical tool that allows several ways to capture the same image. The scientists have said that they would continue to improve the resolution of the camera.