/Patent Tracker
SamsungPatent applicationCameras & imagingInterest 6/10

Samsung patents camera lens that uses AI to interpret light patterns

Samsung describes an electronic device with a special lens made of tiny pillars that changes how light hits the camera sensor. The system feeds this altered image into an AI model trained to recognize objects based on the specific way the lens distorts the light.

Why it mattersThis approach could allow cameras to gather more detailed information about objects using a simpler lens design, potentially improving how devices understand their surroundings.

In the filing’s own words

An electronic device includes: a meta lens including pillars or pins provided at a surface of the meta lens and having at least one of different shapes, heights and widths; and an image sensor configured to receive phase-modulated light reflected from an object and transmitted by the meta lens, and obtain a coded image by converting the phase-modulated light into an electrical signal; and at least one processor configured to input the coded image into an artificial intelligence model, and obtain a label indicating a perception result of an object through inference using the artificial intelligence model, wherein the artificial intelligence model is a neural network model trained to obtain a simulation image by inputting an RGB image into a model reflecting optical characteristics of the meta lens, and output, as the perception result of the simulation image, a label indicating ground truth of the RGB image that was input.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An electronic device comprising: a meta lens comprising a plurality of pillars or a plurality of pins provided at a surface of the meta lens and having at least one different shapes, different heights, or different widths, the meta lens having optical characteristics configured to modulate a phase of light reflected from an object through the plurality of pillars or the plurality of pins; an image sensor configured to obtain a coded image by receiving phase-modulated light reflected from the object and transmitted by the meta lens and converting the phase-modulated light into an electrical signal; memory storing one or more instructions; and at least one processor including processing circuitry, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to: input the coded image to an artificial intelligence model, and output a perception result of the object through inferencing using the artificial intelligence model, wherein the artificial intelligence model is a neural network model trained to obtain a simulated image by inputting an RGB image to a model that reflects the optical characteristics of the meta lens and to output a label indicating ground truth of the input RGB image as a perception result of the simulated image, and wherein the artificial intelligence model is trained to minimize a loss value by applying, as the loss value, a similarity value numerically indicating a degree of similarity between the RGB image and the simulated image.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR PERFORMING VISION PERCEPTION FROM IMAGE ACQUIRED USING META LENS, AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF
Publication number
US20260270579A1
Application number
19657617
Filed
Apr 24, 2026
Published
Sep 10, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
20

Classified under

H04N 25/47 Electricity & electronicsB82Y 20/00 Operations & transportG06V 10/14 Physics & computingG06V 10/82 Physics & computingG06V 40/172 Physics & computingH04N 23/55 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

More from Samsung in Cameras & imaging

Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.