Samsung’s groundbreaking ToF and global shutter sensors revolutionize XR technology

Samsung has introduced two new sensors to its ISOCELL Vizion line-up. The first one is a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor that measures the distance to objects, while the other is a global-shutter image sensor.

The Samsung ISOCELL Vizion 63D is the industry’s first sensor to have an integrated depth-sensing ISP, which means it can perform calculations itself, reducing system power consumption by up to 40%. It can capture 320 x 240px depth information at up to 60fps and has a 640 x 480px mode as well. This sensor will be used in service and industrial robots, XR devices, and facial recognition.

The other sensor, the ISOCELL Vizion 931, is a global shutter image sensor with 640 x 640px resolution. It can be used for iris recognition, eye tracking, facial and gesture detection in head-mounted display devices like XR headsets.

Both sensors are sampling to OEMs worldwide, and there are rumors that Samsung Electronics might be partnering with Google and Qualcomm to get back into the XR game.

The ISOCELL Vizion 63D sensor supports both flood and spot lighting models, with the former giving high resolution at a short range of 5m and the latter extending the maximum range to 10m at the cost of resolution. The sensor uses Backside Scattering Technology (BST) to be more sensitive to the infrared light it uses.

The ISOCELL Vizion 931 sensor features a “multi-drop” function, allowing up to four sensors to be connected with a single wire, simplifying the wiring of the product.

These sensors are expected to bring significant improvements to AR, VR, robotics, and other technological applications.