It is precisely because the use of sensors in the Internet of Things provides a sense of life, and artificial intelligence has also flourished. For example, a camera sensor gives artificial intelligence "sight" and a microphone gives it "hearing."

The sensor can simultaneously meet the input of different sensing parameters. Using infrared light, artificial intelligence can sense the difference in heat and identify different objects. Ultrasound "hearing" can identify sound waves that humans cannot hear.

Applications in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)

In virtual reality and augmented reality, 3D sensing technology has been used for teleconferencing, and the real estate developer marketing team also uses this to remotely show customers the properties for sale. For game enthusiasts, 3D sensing technology provides an exciting experience while also being used for 3D printing, design, object and face recognition.

The world‘s top technology companies are not far behind. Both Samsung and Apple are trying to use 3D technology to increase the competitiveness of their products and compete with their rivals. Qualcomm and Qijing Optoelectronics have teamed up to launch high-resolution 3D depth-aware cameras for use in bio-face recognition, 3D reconstruction, security and automotive.

3D sensing latest application

Vayyar Image Inc., a manufacturer of 3D imaging sensors, will introduce 3D sensors that penetrate walls. Its target customers are cable companies, broadband and smart homes. But there is still a time to enter the smart home. This is because 3D sensors are needed to monitor the movement and behavior of multiple people in the same room. The installation workload is small and the field of view is wide enough to be economical and does not require multiple sensors to work.

Smartphone vendors are also gradually integrating 3D sensors into their phones. According to Allied Market Research, 80% of smartphones will be equipped with 3D sensors by 2018. Prior to this, 3D sensors have been used for biometric scanning, gesture sensing, and recognition of photo features.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is a smartphone with 3D camera technology. The iPhone 7 Plus also features a 12-megapixel rear dual camera that guarantees results when taken at long distances, which overcomes the problems of visual zoom.

3D sensing technology can also be used for gesture recognition in user interfaces. Although still in the early stages of development, 3D sensing will make a major breakthrough. By breaking the infrared source of the visual elements in the structural graphic or light source, the user can control the game or entertainment device with just gestures.

Apple has developed a stereo vision platform through its acquisition of LinX. The idea comes from human perception of depth, capturing objects through two cameras and analyzing each horizontally placed object.

Similarly, 3D sensing technology has also been proven by the automotive industry. Long-distance drivers use it to monitor their behavior. Installing a 3D sensor inside the truck can serve as a reminder when the driver is sleepy. Cable TV, fire protection, and security also feel the usefulness of this technology, and medical institutions find it useful to check abnormalities in the patient‘s body. Among the many suppliers of 3D ToF sensing systems, Genius Pros is very famous.

“We live in a three-dimensional world, which means that human behavior analysis, robotics, and autonomous vehicle avoidance require accurate three-dimensional information perception. However, ordinary cameras can only perceive two-dimensional information,” said Bruce, CEO of Genius Pro. Bai said at a press conference held in San Francisco a few weeks ago, "With the application of 3D sensors, real-time and environmental information can be obtained, so the collected data can be speculated by the advanced algorithm the most likely next situation. It is also the magic of artificial intelligence."

The main drawback of 3D sensor technology is the power consumption problem. In any case, 3D sensing technology is still a worthy innovation, which promotes the integration of various research fields, such as differential geometry, harmonic analysis, numerical optimization, linear algebra and so on.