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LG confirms the G8 ThinQ will have a 3D front camera for face unlock

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LG’s next flagship hasn’t been announced yet, but as ever, the company likes to drip-feed nuggets of information about it in the lead-up to the full reveal. Today, we’ve learned that it will indeed be called the G8 ThinQ, and it’ll include a time-of-flight sensor as part of its front-facing camera array. (That likely explains the recent supposed render that showed two cameras in the phone’s display notch.)

ToF sensors work by bouncing infrared light off subjects and can be used for 3D object recognition. This allows for secure face unlock and more accurate background blur in selfie portraits, as well as potentially having various AR applications. The sensor in the G8 ThinQ is Infineon’s REAL3 chip. LG isn’t saying much about how it’ll be used in the G8’s software, but promises to deliver “a new level of front camera capability in a smartphone.”

LG isn’t the first company to ship a phone with a ToF sensor, and it’s likely we’ll see several more this year. The Honor View 20 has a rear-facing one, while the sensor in the Vivo Nex Dual Display Edition can be used both for selfies and regular photos due to the phone’s unusual two-screen design. Sony, meanwhile, says it plans to increase production of its own versions of the technology.

LG will formally unveil the G8 ThinQ around Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month. ToF sensor aside, it’s variously rumored to have an attachable second screen and a touchless gesture control interface.



from The Verge - Teches http://bit.ly/2GdHPoe
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