Modern digital cameras are equipped with an impressive array of functions -- from autofocus and image stabilization to panoramas and high-definition video. Recently a team of engineers from Duke University has unlocked a previously unrecognized 3D imaging capability of modern cameras by simply repurposing its existing components.

This new capability was successfully demonstrated in a proof-of-concept laboratory experiment using a small deformable mirror --a reflective surface that can direct and focus light. The research demonstrates how the equivalent technology in modern digital cameras, the image stabilization and focus modules, could be harnessed to achieve the same results without additional hardware.

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