2Pi Optics has launched a new type of fisheye camera based on its so-called metasurface optics

2Pi Optics has launched a new type of fisheye camera based on its so-called metasurface optics.
The company plans to showcase this technology at the large-scale technology trade show CES 2024 in Las Vegas next week.

This company, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, stated that it has created the world's leading high-resolution fisheye sensor based on optical superlens technology. This technology means that design engineers can further reduce the camera size in advanced driving assistance systems, AR/VR, drones, robots, and industrial applications.

The surge in camera based optical sensor technology is driving the work of 2Pi Optics. The company's patented technology extends the field of view of the superlens to nearly 180 degrees without affecting imaging quality, outperforming traditional wide field refractive optical devices in key aspects such as size, weight, performance, and cost-effectiveness.

The core of this work is to replace the bulky and expensive traditional wide field of view lens with a single slender flat superlens, which consists of multiple stacked lenses. This technology can create ultra compact, high-performance optical imagers and sensors. They can be used for applications such as consumer electronics, automotive sensing, industrial testing, and biomedical diagnosis.

2Pi was founded in 2021 and is a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its founder has been promoting superlensing technology - a thin wafer material filled with microscopic features that precisely manipulate light. The company's research has been patented.

Hu Juejun, a professor of materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and CEO of 2Pi, stated in a statement that "the refracted fisheye lens used today to capture wide-angle panoramic images has encountered design obstacles.".

Hu added, "They require 6 to 12 stacked lens components, which limits their compactness and affordability. In contrast, our design outperforms traditional refractive wide field optical devices in all aspects: size, weight, performance, and cost. Even better, 2Pi superlenses can be manufactured on a wafer scale in traditional semiconductor foundries.".

AR/VR head mounted devices: These cameras help with environmental mapping, hand/eye tracking, gesture and facial recognition. The compact size and weight are particularly advantageous for wearable devices, as their broad field of view simulates human vision and enhances user immersion.

Automotive Sensing: The 2Pi technology reduces the number of sensors required for 360 degree full coverage, improves the reliability and accuracy of ADAS, and reduces computational overhead.

Robots and Drones: Lightweight, high-resolution imaging and 3D depth sensors enhance payload capacity and improve target recognition accuracy.

Industrial testing: High performance, low-power micro machine vision cameras, such as endoscopic inspection cameras, can be flexibly deployed.

Source: Laser Net