Picture-messaging phones may be about to get a whole lot more intrusive. Thanks to a novel and ultra-cheap micromotor technology, cellphone cameras should soon be able to zoom and focus with the same precision as the autofocusing lenses used in expensive stills cameras. New Scientist reports that 1 Limited of Cambridge, UK, has found a novel way to make a thin sheet of a piezoelectric ceramic material work like a motor. It can move whatever is placed on top of it, or it can be rolled into a cylinder to grasp and move a miniature camera lens.
At the moment, the lenses in picture phones are fixed-focus. That means they are set to a compromise middle-distance focus that blurs both close and distant objects. A telephoto effect can be obtained by digitally enlarging a selected area of the picture, but this also enlarges the pixels and spoils the image by giving it a blotchy mosaic look. Being able to move the camera lens for focusing and zooming would allow picture phones to take clear telephoto shots and focus on objects close-up. But there is not enough room inside today's diminutive cellphones to put all the motors and gears needed to twist and turn the optics. Full article here.
