Apple is currently testing a new 360-degree camera feature for its upcoming iPhone models. However, there is no confirmation yet if the company will integrate this new technology on the upcoming iPhone 13.
TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 03: A girl reacts as she tries an iPhone X at the Apple Omotesando store on November 3, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. Apple launched the latest iPhone featuring face recognition technology, a large 5.8-inch edge-to-edge high resolution OLED display and better front and back cameras with optical image stabilisation today.
The tech giant manufacturer is finding new methods to combine photos from different iPhone cameras so that they can control all these lenses to capture a 360-degree image.
According to Apple Insider's latest report, while Apple is experimenting with its periscope cameras for the next iPhone flagships, it revealed another patent that explains how to leverage multiple camera lenses on different smartphones.
Apple's new 360-degree camera feature
The new patent is titled "System For Producing A Continuous Image From Separate Image Sources." It explains how Apple can synchronize multiple iPhones and combine their captured images as one photo.
"A photographer, videographer, or another person may desire to capture images using several image-capture devices and combine the images captured by each of the individual devices into one continuous image," said Apple via Apple Insider.
"The combined, continuous image may have a greater field-of-view and include more image data than the individual images captured by the image-capture devices," added the giant manufacturer.
TOKYO, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 13: A woman wearing a face mask uses a smartphone as she walks through a shopping district at night on February 13, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. At least 219 passengers and crew onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for COVID-19 making it the biggest centre of the virus outside China. Japan has also so far diagnosed 28 other people with the illness, some of whom are evacuees from Wuhan.
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However, Apple also explained that there could be an issue with the new technology. The company said that if this became a successful feature, this means that different cameras must be utilized in a group, just like how family sharing works.
Although this is the case, Apple's new patent still provided some options on how to physically mount several iPhones, allowing them to maximize the 360-degree coverage and minimize overlapping.
Apple describes this physical mount as an "image-capture unit structure." The company added that the purpose of this is to support cameras in fixed positions relative to one another. Apple's new idea states that iPhones would be disposed of radically around a central axis of the image-capture unit.
Apple is also working on another innovation
Meanwhile, Apple is also working on new types of Face ID and Touch ID. This Apple patent states the company is planning to create an in-display no-notch version of the security features Touch ID and Face ID. This patent is titled "Photodetectors Integrated into Thin-Film Transistor Backplanes." Phone Arena explained that it focuses on placing sensors such as depth sensors, cameras, biometric sensors, and other behind-the-screen camera lenses. You can click here for more details.
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