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Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

engineering.princeton.edu

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Re: Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

#91

Post by curryst »

alexpotato wrote: post #88

I remember years ago watching a show on potential future technologies and one of the people being interviewed mentioned the following: "One day, your child will be able to go to a dollar store and buy sheet of sticker cameras. These cameras will be paper thin, can be stuck anywhere and will have their own internet address that can be accessed over the public internet from a browser. Everything I just described is tec…

An ESP32-CAM isn't far off. It's got a sticker sized footprint already. If you cut off the pins, the PCB is thicker than a sticker and the camera is a centimeter or two long, but they're like $10 a piece for ones with a camera and an SD slot.

Re: Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

#92

Post by [deleted] »

tdrdt wrote: post #61

If you take a look at the paper it is only about the optics. Which is still a big achievement, but I think the complete system is a little bit bigger than a grain of salt. So the article should be taken with a grain of salt as well. https://light.princeton.edu/publication/neural-nano-optics/

[deleted]

Re: Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

#93

Post by krageon »

boibombeiro wrote: post #85
randomsearch wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It means they are unquestionably pushing the state of art fowards. Or the system is completely broken. I agree with this statement: the system is completely broken. I've peered inside top level conferences and I can tell you that publishing there does not mean you are pushing the state of the art. Instead you may be: popular, good at playing the political game, lucky (when acceptance rates are low, luck plays a hug…

I don't think you are completly wrong. For instance, last year there was a whole debacle at one of those top conferences because someone from nvidia, that was in the board of this conference, made (and posted on twitter!) a black list for people who said something that was not alligned with hers ideology. (I wonder what happened after the whole thing went quiet). Yet, I do still think those conference, and their spon…

What exactly was the sort of stuff people are blacklisted for? It could be claiming that racial segregation is a great thing (which should be shunned and kept away) or it could be supporting multivitamin consumption (for which it seems like an overreach).

Re: Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

#94

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

bobthechef wrote: post #23
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #15

So privacy will evaporate. Imagine dropping millions of these from a drone, carpeting a city. They'd be carried everywhere on clothing, animals, wind. Go to any location and scan for local cameras, download. Privacy will have to be redefined. We've done this lots of times. You hear what goes on behind the bathroom door, you don't say anything, you actually forget it. Because it's not polite to snoop. So in future eve…

Counter snooping measures will likely be developed in parallel. Maybe localized EMP or something that floods sensors with infrared light or whatever.

That would be one big RED ALERT halo, if they were watched by someone in realtime. Or some system. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Potential Perp entered perimeter!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Re: Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

#96

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

alexpotato wrote: post #88

I remember years ago watching a show on potential future technologies and one of the people being interviewed mentioned the following: "One day, your child will be able to go to a dollar store and buy sheet of sticker cameras. These cameras will be paper thin, can be stuck anywhere and will have their own internet address that can be accessed over the public internet from a browser. Everything I just described is tec…

There are so many microcontrollers which could be packed behind this, in a sandwiched way, behind the CCD which captures the light. Think of the stuff that's on your Smart-/Chipcards, like Credit/Debit/Banking/ID/Drivers License/...

The thing under the golden metal contact plate has a diameter of about 5 millimeters, yet it is able to perform a subset of something like Java.

The same goes for the SIM in your phone, or a Micro-SD Card.

There the Microcontroller serves the interface on one end, and acts as a RAID-controller for the arrays of NAND-storage on the other end.

This can all be hidden behind that, layered underneath each other.

The biggest thing would be battery to power it, or the coils to harvest energy from WIFI, or whatever.

Combine that with circuitry which only wakes up the system when the image is changing, and your're good to go, ...err spy ;->

Re: Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

#97

Post by dredmorbius »

anaganisk wrote: post #50
fallat wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What processing can an RFID do? AFAIK RFID can only store and send data, and are pretty "dumb".

I remember watching a docu in Netflix about spies where they show a deice that could record and transmit sound, using same technology.

The "Chrysostom" Great Seal Bug, 1945, USSR, created by Léon Theremin, who also invented the early electronic musical instrument bearing his name. The bug remained installed in the US Embassador's office for 15 years, though it was recognised as a listening device in 1952.

https://hackaday.com/2015/12/08/theremins-bug/

https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2021/02/07/the-great-seal...

Re: Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

#98

Post by euler2100 »

brazzy wrote: post #84
cvakang wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I had the same question. But if the lens miniaturised so does the rest. Imagine swallowing this and getting picturs of your inside of body in a smart phone.

> But if the lens miniaturised so does the rest. Not necessarily. I recently looked into miniature cameras for self- built drones. For less than $50, you can get a package with a lens that's maybe 2-3mm across. The entire sensor+lens unit is roughly 1cm cubed. But then you need the electronics to process and store the image, and you're up to credit card size. And then you need a battery, and not a tiny one because th…

Mind sharing the link for such small camera sensors and lenses?

Re: Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

#99

Post by randomsearch »

choeger wrote: post #79
randomsearch wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Each one must be a serious contribution I'm sorry to inform you that this is untrue. Elite conferences are full of work that is _scientifically_ awful and does not contribute anything to _science_.

That's not true in general. Case in point: https://icfp21.sigplan.org/track/icfp-2021-papers#event-over... the key is that "elite" in science means "small", amongst other things. Any conference that accepts so many papers that not very attendant can visit every presentation is already not "elite" anymore.

You've chosen a good conference for a counter-example, I agree.

But even within that conference, there are examples of exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not going to personally criticise individuals as it's a widespread and often systemic problem. Peter Thiel has summarised this better than I ever could.

Re: Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

#100

Post by brazzy »

euler2100 wrote: post #98
brazzy wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But if the lens miniaturised so does the rest. Not necessarily. I recently looked into miniature cameras for self- built drones. For less than $50, you can get a package with a lens that's maybe 2-3mm across. The entire sensor+lens unit is roughly 1cm cubed. But then you need the electronics to process and store the image, and you're up to credit card size. And then you need a battery, and not a tiny one because th…

Mind sharing the link for such small camera sensors and lenses?

Here's one example: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001057625611.html
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