4-D camera could improve robot vision, virtual reality and self-driving cars

Engineers at Stanford University and the University of California San Diego have developed a camera that generates four-dimensional images and can capture 138 degrees of information. The new camera—the first-ever single-lens, wide field of view, light field camera—could generate information-rich images and video frames that will enable robots to better navigate the world and understand certain aspects of their environment, such as object distance and surface texture.