Select your localized edition:

Close ×

More Ways to Connect

Discover one of our 28 local entrepreneurial communities »

Be the first to know as we launch in new countries and markets around the globe.

Interested in bringing MIT Technology Review to your local market?

MIT Technology ReviewMIT Technology Review - logo

 

Unsupported browser: Your browser does not meet modern web standards. See how it scores »

A new self-focusing webcam is the first consumer product with a liquid lens. The lens, from the French company Varioptic, consists of an oil-based and a water-based fluid sandwiched between glass discs in a drum the size of a watch battery. An electric charge causes the boundary between the oil and water to change shape, altering the lens’s focus. Because the lens has no moving parts, it’s more durable than other lenses of similar size.

Courtesy of Akkord

Product: SnakeCam

Cost: About $22 for the 1.3-megapixel version, $24 for the 2-megapixel version

Source: varioptic.com

Company: Akkord

0 comments about this story. Start the discussion »

Tagged: Communications, camera, liquid lens, webcam

Reprints and Permissions | Send feedback to the editor

From the Archives