3D News: Primesense, GestureTek, TYZX, Guinness

In a little more than one week passed since Primesense released its OpenNI drivers the open source community produced an amazing quantity of 3D-based games. Youtube has tens of videos demos of these games, simple applications and trials. Here is one of them:



Imaging Executive Podcast published an interview with GestureTek co-founder and president Vincent John talking about different projects with 3D cameras.

TYZX is in the Guinness World Records Museum, not as record-holder, but as part of a new interactive display created by design firm Electroland. When pedestrians pass the Hollywood Boulevard, LA - located museum, the three TYZX cameras detect their presence and triggers the display 3D avatars on a series of large flat-panel displays. The avatars perform various world-record feats, such as juggling chainsaws.

Update: Business Wire: Primesense announces the launch of its OpenNI (Open Natural Interaction) consortium, an industry-led, nonprofit organization formed to accelerate the introduction of Natural Interaction applications into the marketplace. The role of OpenNI is to certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of Natural Interaction devices, applications and middleware, while encouraging developers to build applications and create experiences that will shape the future of Natural Interaction.

Hamamatsu Enhances IR Sensitivity by MEMS Structures

Recently Hamamatsu has announced a number of silicon-based sensors with enhanced NIR sensitivity. These sensors are said to utilize MEMS structures fabricated by using "unique laser processing technology" to achieve a significant enhancement of NIR sensitivity. Another explanation of MEMS action is on Electro Optics site: "Using unique laser processing technology, MEMS structures can be fabricated on the silicon surface, which act to reduce reflections and increase the surface area of the active element. This process drastically increases the sensitivity in wavelengths longer than 800nm."

PIN diode NIR extension is quite big:

In case of BSI FT-CCD the MEMS structure is formed at the backside and NIR extension is somewhat less than in the PIN diode case:

MDT: The S11510 BSI CCD features QE "of 40% at 1,000 nm, without the need for a deep depletion structure, with its corresponding drawback of higher dark signal. The S11510 series is available with 1,024 or 2,048 pixels, with each pixel measuring 14 by 14 µm." The new NIR CCD products have been announced about a year ago, but the PR had no reference to the MEMS technology at that time.

JVC Developed 8.3MP/60fps Camera Processor

JVC has developed high-speed camera processors able to work with 8.3MP 60fps video stream. The LSI enables shooting and recording Full 2D/3D HD at 60p fps speed, and also ultra-high-resolution 4K2K (3840 x 2160/60p) images of approximately four times the resolution of Full HD. High-speed photography with high-speed processing also is possible, delivering JPEG processing at 8.3MP/60fps speed.

TowerJazz Presentation at ISE 2010

I was given TowerJazz presentation at Image Sensor Europe in March 2010 titled:

Foundry business for CMOS Image Sensors
Dr. Avi Strum, VP & GM Specialty BU

Below are few slides from the presentation talking about the company's approach and technology achievements:

A slide showing stitching quality for large sensors:

BSI becomes an option for TowerJazz customers:

Lightpipe is another available option:

All in all, it seems that access to a lot of advanced technologies is now available to the smaller players on the image sensor market.

Next Thing after PTC Series

Albert Theuwissen looks for the themes for his excellent blog, as PTC series nears its end. Nobody seems to propose the theme in two days passed since the request was posted, so I decided to duplicate it here.

Small Cameras for Endoscopic Applications

BioPhotonics published an article on small cameras and their endoscopic applications. The overall endoscope market is growing at a modest 3% a year, said Teri Minor, a senior analyst at the technology market research firm Frost & Sullivan. But there are segments within it, such as the gastrointestinal one, that are growing much faster. “They have new technologies, like capsule endoscopy, which have growth rates through 2016 that could be as much as 18 or 19 percent a year,” she said.

Given Imaging second-generation pill-camera measures 11 x 26 mm and weighs <4 g. The camera snaps 35 pictures a second, and its wide field of view allows doctors to see twice the surface area of that seen with other capsules, said Given Imaging CEO Homi Shamir.

In September 2009 Medigus Ltd. of Omer, Israel announced a 1.2-mm video camera, claiming to have produced the smallest such device in the world. Medigus currently is working with medical device companies and academic teams around the globe to incorporate it into various devices. As the company's product development manager Ariel Smoliar noted, Medigus' sensor fits approximately 50,000 (220H X 224V) of 2.2um pixels into an area that measures 0.7 mm on a side. This is five times the number of fibers in a fiber bundle solution, making the small-area sensor effectively high resolution compared with that alternative.

Measuring only 1.2 mm in diameter and 5 mm in length, this CMOS camera for medical applications is as small as the point of a pen. Inside the camera cylinder are a sensor, four lenses and a miniature printed circuit board connected to a four-wire cable. The camera is designed to be used in disposable instruments.
Courtesy of Medigus Ltd.

The sensors for the Medigus camera are manufactured by TowerJazz. TowerJazz runs 8-in. wafers, which means there can be close to 50,000 half-square-millimeter sensors on each one. That multitude is part of what enables the sensors to be produced cheaply enough to render the camera disposable. The advantage of this approach is that it eliminates the need for sterilization between procedures, which can be expensive and a source of infection if not done properly.

The small size of these sensors – as compared with those in other applications – is not necessarily the result of going with a smaller pixel, said Avi Strum, TowerJazz VP and GM. The need to capture clear images in low light makes it difficult – if not impossible – to shrink the pixels much from the size of those used in devices such as cell phones.

Thanks to A.L. for sending me the link!

Omnivision Bus Tour Presentation

Omnivision published its Wedbush Bus Tour Presentation dated by Dec. 2, 2010. Most of the slides are taken from the Annual Shareholder Presentation from Sept. 2010 with some updates.

When talking about BSI-2 advantage, the company compares it with FSI pixels:

Omnivision quotes large market shares on few non-cellular markets and compares itself to Aptina:

The last year total market share is quite nice too:

Omnivision targets fast growing markets:

The resolution mix shifts toward 2MP+, but VGA is still more than a half of the company's unit sales:

Omnivision's VGA Sensor Awarded by Electronic Design Magazine

Electronic Design Magazine announced 2010 Best Electronic Design Award Winners. Omnivision OV7735 VGA sensor won the award in the sensor category. OV7735 is based on 3um FSI pixels, delivers sensitivity of 3300 mV/lux-sec and is said to enable less than 3mm camera module hight.

The article does not explain why OV7735 has been selected among many image sensors announced this year. “We rely on the expertise of our staff and contributing editors to ferret out the best of the many new technologies, products and standards that we have seen and wrote about over the past 12 months,” said Editor-in-Chief Joe Desposito. “These guys are in the trenches every day covering this industry and they know about all the great new innovations that have been introduced in the last year.”

Initial Speaker Line-Up at Image Sensors Europe 2011

2011 Image Sensors Europe Conference to be held in London, UK at March 22-24, 2011 has quite impressive preliminary list of speakers:

Ir. Jan Bosiers, R&D Director, DALSA Corporation, Netherlands
Dr Howard Rhodes, Senior VP Process Engineering, OMNIVISION TECHNOLOGIES, US
Tsutomu Haruta, Senior Manager, SONY CORPORATION, Japan
Lindsay Grant, Imaging Division Process Manager, ST MICROELECTRONICS, UK
Richard Crisp, Principal Technologist and Senior Director, TESSERA, US
Prof Karen Egiazarian, Professor - Department of Signal Processing, TAMPERE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, Finland
Dr Sami Khawam, CTO, RICAtek, UK
Dr Thomas Baechler, Section Head Image Sensing, CSEM, Switzerland
Dr Edoardo Charbon, Professor of Microelectronics, DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, The Netherlands
Dr Renato Turchetta, Science & Technology Facility Council, RUTHERFORD APPLETON LABORATORY, UK
Dr Randy Bockrath, CEO, IMATEST LLC, US
Dr York Haemisch, Senior Director Corporate Technologies, PHILIPS RESEARCH LABORATORIES, Germany
Dr Nils Friedrich, Process Technology, PMD TECHNOLOGIES GmbH, Germany
Dr Sandro Tedde, Research Scientist, SIEMENS AG, Germany
Dr Guy Menants, VP R&D, CMOSIS, Belgium
Speaker from POLITECNICO DI MILANO, Italy

The final program is yet to be finalized. Thanks to R.S. for letting me know!

3D Sensing News: TYZX, Optrima, Primesense

PR Newswire: TYZX announced it has received a substantial investment from Takata, a global manufacturer of automotive safety systems with more than 33,000 employees worldwide. The Takata investment follows an earlier investment by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. TYZX is rumored to be profitable since the first investment.

Industry experts believe that vehicles with 3D vision safety features can help better protect drivers and passengers in collisions, help cars avoid accidents, keep vehicles in appropriate road lanes, and prevent many accidental backup injuries and fatalities, among other benefits.

Meanwhile, Softkinetic-Optrima demoed their system in TI booth at Embedded Show in Yokohama, Japan, Dec. 1-3, 2010. A Youtube video shows the demo:



Update: Primesense has released the drivers to its platform as open source and founded OpenNI.org to promote the further defelopment. In the meantime the open community efforts to reverse engineer Primesense algorithms go on. ROS.org published its take on how the Primesense engine works. Here is the explanation from the site:

"Depth is calculated by triangulation against a known pattern from the projector. The pattern is memorized at a known depth. For a new image, we want to calculate the depth at each pixel. For each pixel in the IR image, a small correlation window (9x9 or 9x7, see below) is used to compare the local pattern at that pixel with the memorized pattern at that pixel and 64 neighboring pixels in a horizontal window (see below for how we estimate the 64-pixel search). The best match gives an offset from the known depth, in terms of pixels: this is called disparity. The Kinect device performs a further interpolation of the best match to get sub-pixel accuracy of 1/8 pixel... Given the known depth of the memorized plane, and the disparity, an estimated depth for each pixel can be calculated by triangulation."

US Cars May Be Required to Have Cameras

CNN: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposes a new auto safety regulation that would require rearview back-up cameras in all new cars, pickups and SUVs by 2014. Based on the proposal, drivers must be able to see directly behind the vehicle whenever the vehicle is shifted into reverse. The rule would be phased in over the next four years, starting with 10% of new cars sold expected to comply with the mandate by Sept. 2012; 40% by Sept. 2013 and 100% by Sept. 2014.

The agency estimates that the addition of rear-view camera equipment would cost between $159 to $203 per car, or $88 to $158 on vehicles already equipped with some sort of display screen -- like one used for navigation. NHTSA says the total approximate cost to equip their estimate of 16.6 million vehicles sold in 2014, would be between $1.9B and $2.7B.

Via electronsholes.

Pixart, TPV, Cheng Uei to Form Optical Touch JV

Taiwan Economic News: Cheng Uei Precision Industry, a supplier of connectors for electronic devices, TPV Technology Ltd., the world`s largest TV maker, and Pixart Imaging plan to set up a joint venture on production of optical touch modules, Guo Tai-chiang, chairman of Cheng Uei said.

Industry insiders noted that the joint venture will source touch sensors and ICs from Pixart and optical touch components from Cheng Uei, while relying on TPV`s enormous influence in the monitor industry to cash in on rapidly growing demand for Internet TVs and all-in-one PCs. TPV is expected to ship 15 million LCD TVs and 55 million units of LCD monitors and all-in-one PCs to sustain its No. 1 position in the industry this year.