Today, with the development of mobile phones, they come with a variety of functions. The camera is a very important and commonly used function. Besides regular cameras, there are also pop-up and under-display cameras, but Xiaomi has recently obtained a patent for a rotating camera.
The patent was filed on June 28, 2019, and published on June 23, 2020. Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. submitted the patent application to the China National Intellectual Property Administration Office in June last year.
According to the patent images, the camera module can rotate 360 degrees. When in operation, the camera will stand up to take photos. However, the most interesting aspect is that it can still function normally even when rotated to the left or right. This is indeed a very interesting design. If applied to a mobile phone, the camera module might move to other angles due to external forces when the phone is placed in a pocket.
It is worth noting that this phone does not have a hole for the front camera, which indicates that it likely uses an under-display camera. Currently, Visionox has made breakthroughs in this technology and achieved mass production. Phones with under-display cameras are expected to be released in the second half of this year.
Although patents may not ultimately come to fruition, they reveal the direction of a company’s research and development. As smartphones continue to push the limits of mobile photography, new technological breakthroughs are inevitably required. After all, sensor size and focal length cannot be expanded indefinitely.
Check out the Xiaomi camera patent.