The next big step in digital photography is here as engineers in Duke University, United States take a leap from the megapixel unit to the gigapixel unit which allows for thousand times more detail in the captured image. Aimed precisely at improving the current security systems in airports, military surveillance and online sports coverage; this Duke device called Aware-2 weights around 100 pounds and is the size of two stacked microwave ovens. This project is funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency at $25 million and military has specific interest in using the high resolution capabilities of this camera as tool for aerial and land surveillance.
The optical system of this camera has six centimeter ball shaped lens enclosed by 98 micro-cameras each having 14 megapixel sensors. This optical system weights around 10 kilograms and the case housing it weighs 45 kilograms. Right now Aware-2 gigapixel camera takes around 18 seconds for shooting a frame and record that onto a disk. According to researchers the next step in the development of Aware-2 camera is to reduce the size so that it can be used in commercial applications too.
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