Archives for October 2023

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Press release: https://metalenz.com/metalenz-launches-polar-id-enabling-simple-secure-face-unlock-for-smartphones/

Metalenz Launches Polar ID, Enabling Simple, Secure Face Unlock for Smartphones 

• The world’s first polarization sensor for smartphones, Polar ID provides ultra-secure facial authentication in a condensed footprint, lowering implementation cost and complexity.
•  Now demonstrated on Qualcomm Technologies’ latest Snapdragon mobile platform, Polar ID is poised to drive large-scale adoption of secure face unlock across the Android ecosystem.

Boston, MA – October 26, 2023 Meta-optics industry leader Metalenz unveiled Polar ID, a revolutionary new face unlock solution, at Qualcomm Technologies’ annual Snapdragon Summit this week. Being the world’s only consumer-grade imaging system that can sense the full polarization state of light, Polar ID enables the next level of biometric security. Using breakthrough advances in meta-optic capability, Polar ID accurately captures the unique “polarization signature” of a human face. With this additional layer of information, even the most sophisticated 3D masks and spoof instruments are immediately detected as non-human.

Facial authentication provides a seamless method for unlocking phones and allowing digital payment. However, to make the solution sufficiently secure requires expensive, bulky, and often power-hungry optical modules. Historically, this has limited the implementation of face unlock to only a few high-end phone models. Polar ID harnesses meta-optic technology to extract additional information such as facial contour details and to detect human tissue liveness from a single image. It is significantly more compact and cost effective than incumbent “Structured Light” face authentication solutions which require an expensive dot-pattern projector and multiple images.

Now demonstrated on a smartphone reference design powered by the new Snapdragon® 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform, Polar ID has the efficiency, footprint, and price point to enable any Android smartphone OEM to bring the convenience and security of face unlock to the 100s of millions of mobile devices that currently use fingerprint sensors.

“Size, cost, and performance, those are the key metrics in the consumer industry”, said Rob Devlin, Metalenz CEO & Co-founder. “Polar ID offers an advantage in all three. Its small enough to fit in the most challenging form factors, eliminating the need for a large notch in the display. Its secure enough that it doesn’t get fooled by the most sophisticated 3D masks. Its substantially higher resolution than existing facial authentication solutions, so even if you’re wearing sunglasses and a surgical mask, the system still works. As a result, Polar ID delivers secure facial recognition at less than half the size and cost of incumbent solutions.”

“With each new generation of our flagship Snapdragon 8 series, our goal is to deliver the next generation of cutting-edge smartphone imaging capabilities to consumers. Our advanced Qualcomm® Spectra™ ISP and Qualcomm® Hexagon™ NPU were specifically designed to enable complex new imaging solutions, and we are excited to work with Metalenz to support their new Polar ID biometric imaging solution on our Snapdragon mobile platform for the first time,” said Judd Heape, VP of Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

“Polar ID is a uniquely powerful biometric imaging solution that combines our polarization image sensor with post-processing algorithms and sophisticated machine learning models to reliably and securely recognize and authenticate the phone’s registered user. Working closely with Qualcomm Technologies to implement our solution on their reference smartphone powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, we were able to leverage the advanced image signal processing capabilities of the Qualcomm Spectra ISP while also implementing mission critical aspects of our algorithms in the secure framework of the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, to ensure that the solution is not only spoof-proof but also essentially unhackable” said Pawel Latawiec, CTO of Metalenz. “The result is an extremely fast and compute efficient face unlock solution ready for OEMs to use in their next generation of Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered flagship Android smartphones.”

Polar ID is under early evaluation with several top smartphone OEMs, and additional evaluation kits will be made available in early 2024. Metalenz will exhibit its revolutionary Polar ID solution at MWC Barcelona and is now booking meetings to showcase a live demo of the technology to mobile OEMs.
Contact sales@metalenz.com to reserve your demo.
 

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https://www.ims.fraunhofer.de/en/Newsroom/Fairs-and-events/10th-cmos-imaging-workshop.html

10th CMOS Imaging Workshop 

What to expect
You are kindly invited to an exciting event, which will promote the exchange of users, developers and researchers of optical sensing to enhance synergy and pave the way to great applications and ideas.

Main topics

•  Single photon imaging
•  Spectroscopy, scientific and medical imaging
•  Quantum imaging
•  Image sensor technologies

The workshop will not be limited to CMOS as a sensor technology, but will be fundamentally open to applications, technologies and methods based on advanced optical sensing.

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2023

5 Nov - 29 Oct - 22 Oct - 15 Oct - 8 Oct - 1 Oct - 23 Sep

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5th workshop on Image Sensors for Precision Astronomy (ISPA) - 12-14 March 2024 - Menlo Park, California, USA - Website

20th Annual Device Packaging Conference - 18-21 Mar 2024 - Scottsdale, Arizona, USA - Website

Image Sensors Europe - 20-21 Mar 2024 - London, UK - Website

Laser World of Photonics China - 20-22 Mar 2024 - Shanghai, China - Website

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20th Annual Device Packaging Conference - 18-21 Mar 2024 - Scottsdale, Arizona, USA - Website

Image Sensors Europe - 20-21 Mar 2024 - London, UK - Website

Laser World of Photonics China - 20-22 Mar 2024 - Shanghai, China - Website

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Press release: https://prophesee-1.reportablenews.com/pr/prophesee-launches-the-world-s-smallest-and-most-power-efficient-event-based-vision-sensor-bringing-more-intelligence-privacy-and-safety-than-ever-to-consumer-edge-ai-devices

Prophesee launches the world’s smallest and most power-efficient event-based vision sensor, bringing more intelligence, privacy and safety than ever to consumer Edge-AI devices

Prophesee’s latest event-based Metavision® sensor - GenX320 - delivers new levels of performance including ultra-low power, low latency, high flexibility for efficient integration in AR/VR, wearables, security and monitoring systems, touch-free interfaces, always-on IoT and many more

October 16, 2023 2pm CET PARIS –– Prophesee SA, inventor of the world’s most advanced neuromorphic vision systems, today announced the availability of the GenX320 Event-based Metavision sensor, the industry’s first event-based vision sensor developed specifically for integration into ultra-low-power Edge AI vision devices. The fifth generation Metavision sensor, available in a tiny 3x4mm die size, expands the reach of the company’s pioneering technology platform into a vast range of fast-growing intelligent Edge market segments, including AR/VR headsets, security and monitoring/detection systems, touchless displays, eye tracking features, always-on smart IoT devices and many more.

The GenX320 event-based vision sensor builds on Prophesee’s track record of proven success and expertise in delivering the speed, low latency, dynamic range and power efficiency and privacy benefits of event-based vision to a diverse array of applications.

The 320x320 6.3μm pixel BSI stacked event-based vision sensor offers a tiny 1/5” optical format. It has been developed with a specific focus on the unique requirements of efficient integration of innovative event sensing in energy-, compute- and size-constrained embedded at-the-edge vision systems. The GenX320 enables robust, high-speed vision at ultra-low power and in challenging operating and lighting conditions.

GenX320 benefits include:

•  Low latency µsec resolution timestamping of events with flexible data formatting.
•  On-chip intelligent power management modes reduce power consumption to as low as 36uW and enable smart wake-on-events. Deep sleep and standby modes are also featured.
•  Easy integrability/interfacing with standard SoCs with multiple integrated event data pre-processing, filtering, and formatting functions to minimize external processing overhead.
•  MIPI or CPI data output interfaces offer low-latency connectivity to embedded processing platforms, including low-power microcontrollers and modern neuromorphic processor architectures.
•  AI-ready: on-chip histogram output compatible with multiple AI accelerators;
•  Sensor-level privacy-enabled thanks to event sensor’s inherent sparse frameless event data with inherent static scene removal.
•  Native compatibility with Prophesee Metavision Intelligence, the most comprehensive, free, event-based vision software suite, used by a fast-growing community of 10,000+ users.

“The low-power Edge-AI market offers a diverse range of applications where the power efficiency and performance characteristics of event sensors are ideally suited. We have built on our foundation of commercial success in other application areas and developed this new event-based Metavision sensor to address the needs of Edge system developers with a sensor that is easy to integrate, configure and optimize for multiple compelling use cases in motion and object detection, presence awareness, gesture recognition, eye tracking, and other high growth areas,” said Luca Verre, CEO and co-founder of Prophesee.

Specific use case potential

•  High speed eye-tracking for foveated rendering for seamless interaction in AR/VR/XR headsets
•  Low latency touch-free human machine interface in consumer devices (TVs, laptops, game consoles, smart home appliances and devices, smart displays and more)
•  Smart presence detection and people counting in IoT cameras and other devices
•  Ultra-low power always-on area monitoring systems
•  Fall detection cameras in homes and health facilities

Availability
The GenX320 is available for purchase from Prophesee and its sales partners. It is supported by a complete range of development tools for easy exploration and optimization, including a comprehensive Evaluation Kit housing a chip on board (COB) GenX320 module, or a compact optical flex module. In addition, Prophesee is offering a range of adapter kits that enable seamless connectivity to a large range of embedded platforms, such as a STM32 MCU, enabling faster time-to-market.

Early adopters
Zinn Labs
“Zinn Labs is developing the next generation of gaze tracking systems built on the unique capabilities of Prophesee’s Metavision event sensors. The new GenX320 sensor meets the demands of eye and gaze movements that change on millisecond timescales. Unlike traditional video-based gaze tracking pipelines, Zinn Labs is able to leverage the GenX320 sensor to track features of the eye with a fraction of the power and compute required for full-blown computer vision algorithms, bringing the footprint of the gaze tracking system below 20 mW. The small package size of the new sensor makes this the first time an event-based vision sensor can be applied to space-constrained head-mounted applications in AR/VR products. Zinn Labs is happy to be working with Prophesee and the GenX320 sensor as we move towards integrating this new sensor into upcoming customer projects.”
Kevin Boyle, CEO & Founder
 

XPERI
“Privacy continues to be one of the biggest consumer concerns when vision-based technology is used in our products such as DMS and TV services. Prophesee’s event-based Metavision technology enables us to take our ‘privacy by design’ principle to an even more secure level by allowing scene understanding without the need to have explicit visual representation of the scene. By capturing only changes in every pixel, rather than the entire scene as with traditional frame-based imaging sensors, our algorithms can derive knowledge to sense what is in the scene, without a detailed representation of it. We have developed a proof-of-concept demo that demonstrates DMS is fully possible using neuromorphic sensors. Using a 1MP neuromorphic sensor we can infer similar performance as an active NIR illumination 2MP vision sensor-based solution. Going forward, we focus on the GenX320 neuromorphic sensor that can be used in privacy sensitive smart devices to improve user experience.”
Petronel Bigioi, Chief Technology Officer
 

ULTRALEAP
“We have seen the benefits of Prophesee’s event-based sensors in enabling hands-free interaction via highly accurate gesture recognition and hand tracking capabilities in Ultraleap’s TouchFree application. Their ability to operate in challenging environmental conditions, at very efficient power levels, and with low system latency enhances the overall user experience and intuitiveness of our touch free UIs. With the new Genx320 sensor, these benefits of robustness, low power consumption, latency and high dynamic range can be extended to more types of applications and devices, including battery-operated and small form factors systems, proliferating hands-free use cases for increased convenience and ease of use in interacting with all sorts of digital content.”
Tom Carter, CEO & Co-founder

Additional coverage on EETimes:

https://www.eetimes.com/prophesee-reinvents-dvs-camera-for-aiot-applications/

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OMNIVISION Announces New 4K2K Resolution Image Sensor for Home and Professional Security Cameras
 
The OS08C10 is a high-performance 8MP resolution, small-form-factor image sensor with on-chip staggered and DAG HDR technology, designed to produce superb video/image quality in challenging lighting environments
 
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – October 24, 2023 – OMNIVISION, a leading global developer of semiconductor solutions, including advanced digital imaging, analog, and touch & display technology, today announced the new OS08C10, an 8-megapixel (MP) backside illumination (BSI) image sensor that features both staggered high dynamic range (HDR) and single exposure dual analog gain (DAG) for high-performance imaging in challenging lighting conditions. The 1.45-micron (µm) BSI pixel supports 4K2K resolution and high frame rates. It comes in a small 1/2.8-inch optical format, a popular size for home and professional security, IoT and action cameras.
 
“Our new 1.45 µm pixel OS08C10 image sensor provides improved sensitivity and optimized readout noise, closing the gap with big-pixel image sensors that have traditionally been required for high-performance imaging in the security market,” said Cheney Zhang, senior marketing manager, OMNIVISION. “The OS08C10 supports both staggered HDR and DAG HDR. Staggered HDR extends dynamic range in both bright and low lighting conditions; the addition of built-in DAG provides single-exposure HDR support and reduces motion artifacts. Our new feature-packed sensor supports 4K2K resolution for superior image quality with finer details and enhanced clarity.”
 
OMNIVISION’s OS08C10 captures real-time 4K video at 60 frames per second (fps) with minimal artifacts. Its selective conversion gain (SCG) pixel design allows the sensor to flexibly select low and high conversion gain, depending on the lighting conditions. The sensor adopts the new correlated multi-sampling (CMS) to further reduce readout noise and improve SNR1 and low-light performance. The OS08C10’s on-chip defective pixel correction (DPC) improves quality and reliability above and beyond standard devices by providing real-time correction of defective pixels that can result throughout the sensor’s life cycle, especially in harsh operating conditions.
 
The OS08C10 is built on OMNIVISION’s PureCel®Plus-S stacked-die technology, enabling high-resolution 8MP in a small 1.45 µm BSI pixel. At 300 mW (60 fps), the OS08C10 achieves the lowest power consumption on the market. OMNIVISION’s OS08C10 is a cost-effective 4K2K solution for security, IoT and action cameras applications.
 
The OS08C10 is sampling now and will be in mass production in Q1 2024. For more information, contact your OMNIVISION sales representative: www.ovt.com/contact-sales.

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Sony Semiconductor Solutions to Launch 1/3-Type-Lens-Compatible, 3.2-Effective-Megapixel Stacked CMOS Image Sensor with Global Shutter for Industrial Use Featuring Highest Resolution in This Class in the Industry

Atsugi, Japan — Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (SSS) today announced the upcoming release of the IMX900, a 1/3-type-lens-compatible, 3.2-effective-megapixel stacked CMOS image sensor with a global shutter for industrial use that boasts the highest resolution in its class.
The new sensor product employs an original pixel structure to dramatically improve light condensing efficiency and near infrared sensitivity compared to conventional products, enabling miniaturization of pixels while maintaining the key characteristics required of industrial image sensors. This design achieves the industry’s highest resolution of 3.2 effective megapixels for a 1/3.1-type, global shutter system which fits in the S-mount (M12), the mount widely used in compact industrial cameras and built-in vision cameras.

The new product will contribute to the streamlining of industrial tasks in numerous ways, by serving in applications such as code reading in the logistics market and assisting in automating manufacturing processes using picking robot applications on production lines, thereby helping to resolve issues in industrial applications.

With demand for automation and manpower savings on the rise in every industry, SSS’s original Pregius S™ global shutter technology contributes to improved image recognition by enabling high-speed, high-precision, motion distortion-free imaging in a compact design. The new sensor utilizes a unique pixel structure developed based on Pregius S, moving the memory unit that was previously located on the same substrate as the photodiode to a separate signal processing circuit area. This new design makes it possible to enlarge the photodiode area, enabling pixel miniaturization (2.25 μm) while maintaining a high saturation signal volume, successfully delivering a higher pixel count of approximately 3.2 effective megapixels for a 1/3.1-type sensor.

Moving the memory unit to the signal processing circuit area has also increased the aperture ratio, bringing significant improvements to both incident light angle dependency and quantum efficiency. These features enable a much greater level of flexibility in the lens design for the cameras which employ this sensor. Additionally, a thicker photodiode area enhances the near infrared wavelength (850 nm) sensitivity, and nearly doubles the quantum efficiency compared to conventional products.

This compact, 1/3.1-type product is available in a package size that fits in the S-mount (M12), the versatile mount type used in industrial applications. It can be used in a wide range of applications where more compact, higher performance product designs are desired, such as in compact cameras for barcode readers in the logistics market, picking robot cameras on production lines, and the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that handle transportation tasks for workers.

Main Features

•  Industry’s highest resolution for an image sensor with a global shutter compatible with a 1/3-type lens, at approximately 3.2 effective megapixels
•  Vastly improved incident light angle dependency lend greater flexibility to lens design
• Delivers approximately double the quantum performance of conventional products in the near infrared wavelength
• Includes on-chip features for greater convenience in reducing post-production image processing load
• High-speed, 113 fps imaging

Cross-section of pixel structure
Product using conventional Pregius S technology (left) and the IMX900 using the new pixel structure (right)

Example of effects due to improved incident light angle dependency

Usage example of Fast Auto Exposure function

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Gpixel adds MIPI-enabled 5 MP and 12 MP NIR Global Shutter image sensors to popular GMAX family

October 18, 2023, Changchun, China: Gpixel announces the pin-compatible GMAX3405 and
GMAX3412 CMOS image sensors - both based on a high-performance 3.4 μm charge domain global
shutter pixel to complete its c-mount range of GMAX products. With options for read out via either
LVDS or MIPI channels, these new sensors are optimized for easy integration into cost-sensitive
applications in machine vision, industrial bar code reading, logistics, and traffic.

GMAX3405 provides a 2448(H) x 2048(V), 5 MP resolution in a 2/3” optical format. In 10-bit mode,
reading out through all 12 pairs of LVDS channels, the frame rate is over 164 fps. In 12-bit mode,
100 fps can be achieved. Using the 4 MIPI D-PHY channels, the maximum frame rate is 73 fps with
a 12-bit depth. GMAX3412 provides a 4096(H) x 3072(V), 12 MP resolution in a 1.1” optical format.
In 10-bit mode, reading out through all 16 pairs of LVDS channels, the frame rate is over 128 fps.
In 12-bit mode, 60 fps can be achieved. Using the 4 MIPI D-PHY channels, the maximum frame rate
is 30 fps with a 12-bit depth. In both sensors, various multiplexing options are available for both
LVDS and MIPI readout to reduce the number of lanes.

 The 3.4 μm charge-domain global shutter pixel achieves a full well capacity of 10 ke- and noise of
3.6 e- at default x1 PGA gain, down to 1.5 e- at max gain setting (x16), delivering up to 68.8 dB
linear dynamic range. The advanced pixel design and Red Fox technology combined brings a peak
QE of 75% @ 540 nm, a NIR QE of 33% @850 nm , a Parasitic Light Sensitivity of -88 dB and an
excellent angular response of > 15° @ 80% response. All of this combined with multislope HDR
mode and ultra-short exposure time modes down to 1 us.

“The GMAX family was originally known for the world’s first 2.5 μm global shutter pixel. As the
product family grows, we are leveraging the advanced technology that makes the 2.5 μm pixel
possible to bring more generous light sensitivity with larger pixel sizes fitting mainstream optical
formats. With the addition of the MIPI interface and pin-compatibility and excellent NIR response,
these 2 new models bring more flexibility and cost-effectiveness to the GMAX product family.” says
Wim Wuyts, Gpixel’s Chief Commercial Officer.

Both GMAX3405 and GMAX3412 are housed in 176 pin ceramic LGA packages, both being pin-
compatible to each other. The outer dimensions of the 5MP and 12MP sensors respectively are
17.60 mm x 15.80 mm and 22.93 mm x 19.39 mm. The LGA pad pattern is optimized for reliable
solder connections and the sensor assembly includes a double-sided AR coated cover glass lid.

Engineering samples of both products, in both color and monochrome variants, can be ordered
today for delivery in November 2023. For more information about Gpixel’s roadmap of products
for industrial imaging, please contact info@gpixel.com to arrange for an overview.

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 A few interesting samples: