MIT has just created a step up in 3D imaging tech. The average 3D camera bounces light off a surface and then calculates the object's distance by recording how fast light bounces back to its sensors. MIT's nano-camera on the other hand, won't be fooled so easily by this.

The secret sauce of their new 3D camera is in the code. Along with associate professor Ramesh Raskar, MIT students Ayush Bhandari, Refael Whyte and Achuta Kadambi have discovered that by using store-bought LEDs and code usually used by telecommunications companies, the nano-camera can pick out the individual distances between multiple surfaces or reflections.

The nano-camera is in part a lower resolution version a trillion-FPS camera, but much more affordable. Will we see tech like that in the Kinect maybe?

Via MIT News