Draw the Curtains: Gigapixel Cameras Create Highly Revealing Snapshots [Slide Show]
Researchers are developing cameras that can take digital snapshots made up of more than a billion pixels
![Draw the Curtains: Gigapixel Cameras Create Highly Revealing Snapshots [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/E02FBFDC-CF1D-44E7-A1E83927522D847E.jpg?w=590&h=393)
Draw the Curtains: Gigapixel Cameras Create Highly Revealing Snapshots [Slide Show]
- NYC SKYLINE IN GIGAPIXELS The researchers have several examples of gigapixel digital images taken using their technology. This one shows the New York City skyline, as seen from nearby Governor's Island. Zooming in on any portion of this panorama reveals faraway images in stunning detail, including the Statue of Liberty, boat decks and buildings. COURTESY OF SHREE NAYAR AND OLIVER COSSAIRT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
- DESIGN #3 (PROPOSED) In the proposed third design, sensors could be attached to the inside of a spherical half shell slightly larger than the lens itself. The spherical lens would then be positioned inside the half shell so that each sensor would be coupled with a relay lens. Any images viewed by the smooth part of the lens would be captured by the sensors inside the half shell. COURTESY OF SHREE NAYAR AND OLIVER COSSAIRT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
- DESIGN #2 The second camera designed by the Columbia researchers is a system that actually uses an array of five sensors arranged side-by-side that produces a contiguous field-of-view (FOV). In this second prototype the packaging around each sensor leaves some space between them. To account for this, the researchers added five secondary relay lenses placed between the spherical lens and the sensors. This configuration enables each sensor's FOV to overlap slightly so that there are no gaps in data that might distort the final image. COURTESY OF SHREE NAYAR AND OLIVER COSSAIRT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
- PERFECT SYMMETRY Columbia University researchers propose three relatively compact camera designs for single-snapshot gigapixel imaging. Each design relies on a ball-shaped lens because it has perfect symmetry (leading to fewer aberrations) and consists of one element rather than several lenses that must be configured to work together, says Oliver Cossairt, a Columbia University computer science PhD candidate working on the project as part of his dissertation. COURTESY OF SHREE NAYAR AND OLIVER COSSAIRT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
