What the Future Holds for Photography

Photographers using 35mm cameras are becoming increasingly few and far between these days. The cost and time involved in developing and printing photographs from film pales in comparison to the speed and ease of simply downloading files from a flash card and printing them immediately. In addition to digital photography being cheaper and easier, it has offered photographers the ability to edit photos on the fly, combine images into composites, resize and crop pictures with just a few mouse clicks, and send them around the world in seconds. Yes, digital photography is here to stay. And it just keeps getting better.

Virtually every cell phone in America contains a digital camera, and those cameras are getting increasingly sophisticated. Digital pixels in cameras have shrunk to the point that 50mp point-and-shoot cameras are commonly available, and there are even professional digital cameras with gigapixels of memory. High-definition video is on its way to becoming 3D, thanks to the establishment of the Network of Excellence in 3DTV in 2004. This organization is a global group of researchers and manufacturers that includes Mitsubishi, Texas Instruments, Holografika, Philips, and a host of other companies.

Application engineers developing 3D video say that nostalgia is rapidly changing in the world of photography. Right now, when people think about photographs from years ago, they only imagine black and white photography. But in the future, when people think about the past, they will imagine 2D images, because 3D images will be the norm. European designers are working on an "autostereo" form of 3DTV, which won’t require the standard colored glasses needed to combine together the two images that are required for traditional 3D viewing. And laser-based holographic projection, which sends individual images from a display to each eye, is just beginning to be marketed. Photos printed on paper are in direct competition with increasingly thinner wireless interactive display screens that show images in 3D.

Designers expect that over the next decade, there will be one device to be used for everything, similar to the apple iPhone that can be used for countless wireless tasks, but with even more capabilities and flexibility. The omni-device will be fragmented to address all areas of the body - the camera device directed toward the eye and the phone and audio inputs to the ear. Some people may even have the devices implanted for easier use and improved clarity. Today’s lenses are smaller than ever and are moving ever closer to being completely merged with image sensors. These sensors are primarily based on organic compounds and organic photo diodes the size of nanobytes. The flexibility of the sensors allow them to be shaped into spheres that closely resemble the human eye and function similarly to the retina. Today’s microbatteries last for years without having to be recharged, and bio-batteries and air batteries are close to being perfected.

Farther along in the future of photography, designers envision the wireless capabilities currently available in handheld devices being replaced by machines the size of rice grains, implanted into people’s eyes and their earlobes. One machine in initial stages of development right now is wraparound sunglasses that have 4D light-capture properties. These capabilities mean that a thin layer of sensors can record not only the intensity and color of the spectrum visible to the human eye, but also the angle and direction of reflected light, including infrared and ultraviolet lights. Taking a picture - similar to tripping the shutter in a traditional camera - can be accomplished with a simple verbal command, perhaps by saying "Click." Depth of field will be controllable by viewers of the images, rather than the photographers, so they can view their own versions of a photograph. Photography and holography will merge, which will require something more sophisticated than today’s flat-screen displays. There are even technologies in development right now that include 6D panoramic displays that fill entire rooms, where viewers can walk around among project images and become immersed in a combination of real and virtual experiences.

Other projects being envisioned for the future of photography are the stuff of science fiction. Image sensors will literally become part of the fabric of people’s everyday lives, with tiny sensors woven into gloves and even photography cloth, which will produce 3D images after they are rubbed over objects such as faces. Google Earth already records live images continuously and allows viewers to select and experience almost any public location in the world, from the comfort of their own chair at home. Tiny laser projectors already exist that beam images directly onto the retina. Some designers foresee being able to "paint" a photograph by simply waving a wand that contains and infrared laser, along with terabytes of data storage.

With all of this increasingly complex and technical image capture technology on the horizon, the concept of privacy is increasingly being disputed. Researchers and scientists will soon be able to tap directly into a person’s neural pathways through vision in the eyes and thought processes in the brain. Images will be accessed by holding an external probe gently pressing the temple, similar to the probes used today for ultrasound imaging. All the images produced will be downloadable, and therefore available to others besides the person whose mind is being accessed.

In just a few decades, actual cameras will be obsolete. The future of photography is an exciting frontier that holds limitless possibilities for people to view, share, and become immersed inside pictures. The world of photography is limited only by the imaginations of developers and engineers, and their imaginations are obviously boundless.