Other Will the iPhone 12 be able to take actual 3d pictures?

[metasailor]

I see a lot of mention of the upcoming iPhone 12's 3d depth-sensing camera/sensor, for help with focusing and depth of field etc.

My question that I haven't been able to find answered: will the iPhone 12 be able to take 3d pictures? And even video? That is, true stereo photography - two separate pictures from slightly different angles that are merged to create a 3d picture from reality that can be viewed in VR, printed out into lenticular photographs, etc.

I understand it's a somewhat rarer field of photography, but I'm quite interested in it.

Does anyone have any information on this? Because if the iPhone 12 can do this, I will probably wait to buy a new phone until it's released.

 

[now i see it]

A 3D camera needs to have two identical lenses at least eye distance apart. Viewing a 3D image requires specialized glasses or a special viewer.
The 3D reference to the iPhone 12 is referring (I think) to depth sensing to allow for more accurate AR viewing and possibly portrait mode improvements.
I'm just guessing here, but I'd say it's 100% certain that the next iPhone, or any iPhone in the future won't have a 3D camera that allows depth perception when looking at the final image

 

[freeagent]

That would be super cool. I would have to get one for sure. Too bad my phone would be rendered worthless at that point. Can’t even give it to my wife because now she has an SE. it’s funny how things change in just a few short months. Dammit.

 

[metasailor]

A 3D camera needs to have two identical lenses at least eye distance apart. Viewing a 3D image requires specialized glasses or a special viewer.
The 3D reference to the iPhone 12 is referring (I think) to depth sensing to allow for more accurate AR viewing and possibly portrait mode improvements.
I'm just guessing here, but I'd say it's 100% certain that the next iPhone, or any iPhone in the future won't have a 3D camera that allows depth perception when looking at the final image

I agree it seems unlikely that the iPhone 12 will take 3d pictures directly, if only because Apple hasn't been pushing that.

But according to a teardown via Forbes, the "LiDAR scanner" will have "two lens-capped modules consisting of a VCSEL transmitter and receiving sensor."

Apple’s 2020 iPhone 12 Looks Stunning With New LiDAR Sensor

Apple's iPhone 12 is going to look like no other smartphone...

www.forbes.com

So if that means each module transmits and receives, that does mean 3D photography could be possible.

I do agree it seems unlikely. I'm just not 100% sure yet.

It would be interesting if an app could exploit this also. Use the LiDAR scanning info to map out how the 3d picture should look, and then create a 3D picture from the LiDar info applied to the picture that was taken.

That would aslo mean that LiDAR info could be applied to other pictures as well. So that could mean weird effects like taking a picture of a living room and applying that to the 3D info from a picture of a canyon, or a human body, etc.

 

[JPack]

The same ToF sensor has been available in many other smartphones.

The improvements are limited to things like focusing in low light, portrait video mode, and background replacement.

Keep in mind the ToF sensor is inexpensive and not very accurate, unlike the TrueDepth camera. So in terms of 3D photos, the effect will not be much better than a Live Photo.

 

[tripleburst]

Theoretically it's possible to shoot 3D-like images by software, if you take Facebook's example of converting photos taken in Portrait mode and using the depth of field to give it a pseudo 3D effect. Still not as good as a 3D photo taken with 2 lenses though.

 

[teeshot44]

3D phone will go down in the same rabbit hole that 3D TV did.

 

[EM2013]

Wasn’t there an old android phone back in the day that took “3D” pictures? Or am I imagining things?

 

[freeagent]

My friends uncle has a camera from the 1800s that shoots stereo photos. Very neat. I don’t see why they or anyone else couldn’t do it. That one Chinese phone can see under your clothes.. so I don’t see why this would be so hard to do. Of course I have no background in engineering.

As a great man once said:

“If I gave you a hammer and sent you off into the woods, how long until you can send me an email?”

Joe Rogan

 

[44267547]

3D phone will go down in the same rabbit hole that 3D TV did.

Wasn’t Samsung‘s best selling TV last year a 3-D curved television in the 3rd fiscal? I’m pretty sure it was in a Tech podcast when They were questioned about the QLED panels.

Anyways, the way I see a 3-D camera, if the consumer doesn’t understand how to actually manipulate its core functionality, they probably won’t care about it. Let’s take ‘Live Photos‘ for example (Even though that was more of a software tangent), essentially consumers had no idea how to use it and what it was really for, and it’s a forgotten feature.

 

[teeshot44]

Wasn’t Samsung‘s best selling TV last year a 3-D curved television in the 3rd fiscal? I’m pretty sure it was in a Tech podcast when They were questioned about the QLED panels.

From Wiki and other articles including CNet.

"As early as 2013, 3D televisions were being seen as a fad. DirecTV had stopped broadcasting 3D programs in 2012, while ESPN stopped in 2013. ... In January 2017, the last two major television manufacturers still producing 3D televisions, Sony and LG, announced they would stop all 3D support "

Too many complaints of headaches I guess.

 

[marty1980]

Nintendo 3DS. Problem solved 😂

I have a 3D TV in my living room. It uses active shutter glasses. It’s fun every now and then to watch a movie or play an old PS3 game, but we hardly ever use this feature.

It would be cool to have a photo frame on the wall or on my desk that flips through 3D photos. I just don’t see Apple making a 3D display for iPhone or iPad any time soon to support 3D photos or videos. So even if the cameras could take 3D,you wouldn’t be able to see them until yoU move them to another device. So the likelihood is very low that they would add it as an option.

There have been a handful of Android phones with 3D displays over the years

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_3D-enabled_mobile_phones