What is the Smallest Hidden Camera? (1x1mm in Size!)

Today we're talking about a camera that's so small you won't even know it's there. Austrian company AMS has just announced they made the world's smallest camera, and it's only 1x1mm in size! That's smaller than a pinhead, guys.

This little camera, called the NanEyeC, is designed to be invisible when mounted in wearable devices like VR headsets. And yeah, you guessed it, it could also be the ultimate spy camera. The 102,000-pixel camera only shoots in black and white, but don't let that fool you. It's a full-featured image sensor that can output at a maximum speed of 58 frames per second at 75 Mbps.

So, what can you use it for? The manufacturers speculate that it could be used in a wide variety of devices. In Augmented Reality headsets, it could be used to track the eye movements of the wearer. It could also detect people in smart buildings - controlling lighting and air conditioning. The NanEyeC could also be used for collision avoidance in the smallest drones or robot vacuum cleaners. And, get this, it could even be used in surgery - giving a view inside the narrowest of veins.

 

 

Dina Aguiar, Marketing Manager for the Micro Camera Module product line at AMS, said: “Due to the NanEye's tiny dimensions and high image quality, the product family already has a loyal following among medical endoscopes manufacturers. Now the NanEyeC consumer version offers the same quality and performance in a compact package suitable for mounting on the space-constrained PCB in wearable or mobile devices.”

Now, the NanEyeC is not the first microscopic camera out there. In fact, in 2019, the OmniVision OV6948 entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest-ever imaging sensor. But, that was aimed exclusively at medical and diagnostic uses. The NanEyeC, on the other hand, is hoping to make an invisible appearance on consumer and industrial devices in the near future.

The NanEyeC is available for evaluation for potential purchasers mounted on a Raspberry Pi microcomputer. So, what do you guys think?