Gizchina reports that Vivo is about to announce a ToF 3D camera integration into its smartphone at the end of this month:
"In addition to being able to recognize human faces better and more quickly, the recognition distance can be enhanced. Moreover, it does not require the face to be in front of the screen to process. this technology is very likely to be used in a flagship model launched in the second half of the year."
at the face detection distance, structure light is more cost effective method I suppose. performance won't be too much diff unless background is just behind head.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, I agree with you. One potential advantage of ToF camera is that it does not need a stereo base of active stereo approach. So, it might fit in a smaller space and the phone can have a smaller notch on top. It remains to be seen if Vivo is able to realize this potential advantage in their actual design.
DeleteWould be awesome if we could use it for different purposes too, besides scanning your head.
ReplyDeleteTOF cost disadvantage was only due to economies of scale for the sensor - they didn't have enough volume to hit the marginal cost of the silicon. That is changing as TOF keeps growing, and there will be little to no appreciable BOM difference between TOF and SL systems.
ReplyDeleteWhen adding in yield, SL systems are way more expensive than TOF today, with TOF in ramped production at 99% yield, and SL way down below 80% (or much lower depending on who you talk to).