Samsung has developed what they’re touting as the world’s first sensor that can capture both an RGB and range (or depth) image at the same time, granting Kinect-like gesture recognition capabilities to a host of devices.
The new CMOS sensor uses an array of red, blue and green pixels that sit alongside the depth-recording z-pixels, which are four times as large. As a result, the sensor can only capture images with a resolution of 1920×720, while the depth map is limited to just 480×360.
But the prospects of having the capabilities of the Kinect’s sensor bar inside a camera, possibly even inside your phone, are pretty cool. Instead of only operating a smartphone through its touchscreen display, its front-facing camera could also track your hand movements in 3D space, recognising complex gestures. And speaking of 3D, the extra depth data could be used to fake 3D images or even automatically replace the background behind you like a green screen, if you didn’t want people to know you were Facetiming them from the bathroom. [Tech-On!]