Sony to Introduce 3D ‘Time-of-Flight’ Sensors for AR Devices
At Sony’s Atsugi Technology Center outside Tokyo, engineers are developing a new kind of 3D sensor aimed for use first in smartphones and augmented reality devices. The sensors will be able to detect people and objects by relying on calculations on how long it takes for light to reflect off their surfaces. Sony, which will go into mass production next year, is betting that the new sensors could eventually be used in drones, self-driving vehicles, gaming consoles, and other machines that interact with their environments.
“Instead of making images for the eyes of human beings, we’re creating them for the eyes of machines,” Yoshihara said. “Whether it’s AR in smartphones or sensors in self-driving cars, computers will have a way of understanding their environment.”
Sony’s TOF sensors, which are being made at its Kyushu factories, will likely be adopted by Apple for future devices, predicted Fuji Chimera Research sensors analyst Yusuke Toyoda, who said that other smartphone manufacturers will follow suit.
Sony’s chief rival in TOF sensors is the Geneva-based STMicroelectronics, whose FlightSense sensors are used “by Apple and more than 80 smartphone models.”
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