Engineers at the University of Rochester have developed a new generation of diminutive imaging chips that use a fraction (estimated at 1%) of the power they currently consume, while rendering higher quality photographs. Applications cited include, but are not limited to, mapping software that can display instantaneous street-level photographs, video calls on mobile phones, and spy cameras imbedded in shirt buttons that can run for years without being recharged. The first commercial use for this new imaging hardware is projected to be in wireless security cameras, which need to produce high-quality photographs while consuming low battery power.

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