Patent Application: Variable liquid mirrors

We may use this smart mirror for omni-directional camera design. -Bob

From
* 12:14 23 July 2007
* NewScientist.com news service
* Justin Mullins

Liquid lenses are set to revolutionise the design of small optical devices such as camera phones. They have no mechanical parts, consisting of just a fluid held inside a chamber in such a way that the fluid's surface forms a lens shape. Applying an electric field to the fluid changes the shape of its surface, thereby altering the focal length of the lens.

Now, consumer electronics company Philips plans to use the same principle to create variable mirrors.

The layer that forms between certain types of fluid can be reflective. By placing these liquids in a chamber and applying an electric field, Philips says it can vary the shape of the layer, and so the shape of the mirror, in just the same way as a liquid lens.

See the full article.
See the full variable liquid mirror patent application.