Another innovative camera technology developed at CSEM is based on the principle of Time-Of-Flight (TOF). In layman terms, the 3D-TOF camera sends a pulse of light in the infrared wavelength and measures how much time it takes to return from a target - this technique allows it to create a 3D model of what it sees with just one camera! Stated in sophisticated language, it has a dedicated image sensor with smart "lock-in" pixels performs a synchronous detection of the phase of a modulated infrared light field. These phase offsets correspond to different flight times and therefore different distances-acquired for every pixel individual in parallel. Too complicated? Well if you look at the picture of the camera on the right, you can see the imaging window is just a plain shiny surface - no lens sticking out like most cameras. |  |