Bifocal camera developed with depth of field from 3 cm to 1.7 km

Just like human eyes, cameras also have problems. One of them is the depth of field: Normally only one distance can really be in focus at a time. Objects that are closer or further away are increasingly blurry. A bifocal camera has now been presented in the science magazine Nature, which is intended to largely circumvent this problem.

Two levels of sharpness

The researchers are said to have succeeded in developing a bifocal lens that can focus on two different distances at the same time. The model used for the construction was in the meantime extinct trilobites Dalmanitina socialiswho possessed this very ability. This allowed her to simultaneously identify food nearby and predators at a distance.

To replicate this ability, the researchers relied on numerous etched lenses. These can break incoming light rays differently depending on their polarization. As a result, light polarized to the left is imaged on a different focal plane than light polarized to the right. The end result is an image that is sharp at a distance of 3 cm and 1.7 km at the same time.

The images taken with the camera are assembled into a consistently sharp overall image using deep learning.

Source: Nature





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A neural network is used to also sharply image the area in between. This can apparently also calculate sharp images for the distances in between, so that the developed camera with its bifocal lens can produce images with an enormous depth of field. There are said to be many possible uses for such recordings: in their work, the researchers talk, for example, of microscopy, machine image recognition and also classic photography.

Source: Nature / Phys.org