3D is the newest craze in gadgetdom — or, at the very least, a lot of gadget makers would like it to be — and it looks like even Cupertino is interested in getting in on it. a new patent says that Apple has been exploring a multi-camera system for 3D picture taking, hinting at a future iPhone 3D.
The patent is called “Systems and Methods for an Imaging System Using Multiple Image Sensors,” and the idea described is a fairly typical one: using two or more rear-facing cameras on a handheld device to allow multiple pictures of the same scene to be taken at once, then recombine them into a 3D image of that same scene.
Apple’s approach is different than the usual stabs at the 3D problem, though. Their patent application describes a “paradigm shift from the known software-based approaches.” Noting that current 3D imaging software must make a guess at how to perform stereo disparity compensation for 3D images, Apple’s method would employ a more accurate, hardware-based approach.
It’s an interesting patent, and it’s easy to extrapolate that one idea Apple might be working on is an iPhone 3D, with a glasses free 3D display like the Nintendo 3DS. It’s exciting to think of what Apple could do with 3D that the competition hasn’t thought of yet, but I think it’s a ways off yet: right now, the battery life trade-offs for 3D devices like the Nintendo 3DS (which gets as little as 3.5 hours per charge) preclude it from inclusion in the iPhone.
