Omni-Focus Video Camera Can Focus Near and Far at the Same Time

By Clay Dillow Posted 05.05.2010 at 10:33 am 3 Comments

The Omni-Focus Video Camera University of Toronto

When we tickle our artistic sides, playing with the varying fields of focus in our camera lenses can be a form of aesthetic expression. But for more practical uses -- say, filming a multi-layered scene like a concert where various subjects are at various depths -- it would be advantageous to capture the entire scene in perfect focus. A researcher in Toronto claims he's created an omni-focus camera that does exactly that.

The Omni-Focus Video Camera is based on a novel distance-mapping principle that allows the camera to capture both near- and far-field images in real-time, high-resolution focus. It does so by employing an array of color video cameras, all focused at different distances. The Divergence-ratio Axi-vision Camera -- the key component in the new video rig -- then maps each pixel in space. Software then stitches a composite image together using the most focused pixels at each distance, creating omni-focused video in real time.

The ability to bring an entire scene into focus regardless of its depth could vastly impact the commercial film industry and A/V hobbyists alike, but the inventors see it also making waves in defense, security, and medicine. Security cameras could capture large swaths of real estate with unprecedented clarity, and doctors using laparoscopes for less-invasive surgeries could better see what's going on inside a patient without constantly adjusting optics.

But we're still a bit fuzzy on the details behind the tech; physically speaking, two different cameras cannot capture identical images because they cannot occupy the exact same space at the exact same time. As such, it seems like the compositing process would slightly distort or dull the images, especially as the software tries to do all of this in real time. That being said, if the Omni-focus Video Camera works as well as the University of Toronto team says it does, we want one.

[PhysOrg]

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3 Comments

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Igot1forya

05/05/10 at 1:30 pm

If you had a rapid shutter and an even more rapid focusing servo you could take 2 (or more) images rapidly with the same lens and then in software merge the best details of each into a single image. Capturing video would be difficult as the servo would no doubt burn out from so much work.

I've had this other idea a long time ago to have a single telescoping lens body with multiple distance lenses through the course lens tube. Then at fixed or variable distances place in middle of the gap spanning the lenses, a 2-way mirror (to allow the far distance CCD to utilize all of the lenses) is installed at a 45 degree angle, so that another CCD above or below can receive an identical image. However, because the 2nd CCD is in the middle of the lens (rather than all the way at the back), its focal point is shorter (or farther, depending on the lenses used). You could capture video using this method, all you need is a fast enough image processor.

Just like in the rapid servo/shutter idea, you'd need software to merge the two images together to get the best of both worlds (after all, that's what our brain does 60 times a second). Really, you could add more and more CCD's and mirrors or better yet, make the lenses in the middle variable, now that would play some major mind tricks!

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pneumeric

05/05/10 at 9:51 pm

If it's an array of cameras focusing at different distances wouldn't it have parallax issues as each camera will have a slightly different point of view? My guess would be that this would result in a uniformly blurry image.

If this is not a problem though, the beauty of this would be to be able to do precise and almost impossible focus pulls in post production. Having everything in focus would be distracting and fake looking.

@Igot1forya your idea would solve the parallax problem but it would also need impossibly well lit conditions to work as each successive ccd would get less and less light hitting it due to each successive mirror as we as all that glass.

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imongi

05/09/10 at 6:16 pm

If those two pictures are of their "success," it is obvious just by looking at them that the overall look of the picture is worse. It looks more like it's been sharpened in photo editing software to the point that the background noise is showing... How is that good? and whats with the shadow? It looks like they had to put a spot light on the farther object so it could pick it up... =/

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