Update (03/30/2015) – I just got a response from Pelican Imaging which is quite pleasing if I might add. As it turns out there doesn’t seems to be a Jabil Ara module however if you were as excited as I was to see a Pelican Imaging array camera module, then you would be delighted to know that the possibilities are very high.

Pelican Imaging’s response was, “I agree that a Pelican camera would be a perfect fit the Ara modular phone! We have talked about it quite a bit internally, and as for right now, we can’t support the project, just due to limited resources. We’re a little under 40 people, and everyone is fully committed to customer programs right now. But I think it’s a brilliant idea and a great way to reach Google’s developer community. I hope Pelican can start work on it soon.”

Original Post:

We often hear of a smartphone camera technology after it has been integrated into a smartphone, but Pelican Imaging’s Array Camera technology is an exception. Pelican Imaging’s Array camera technology has been making headlines since their new camera technology was first made public.

Pelican Imaging was founded back in 2008 and are currently headquartered in Santa Clara, CA. “Pelican Imaging is the inventor of groundbreaking array camera technology for mobile devices. Pelican’s computational camera solution provides depth at every pixel, giving users the freedom to refocus after the fact, focus on multiple subjects, segment objects, take linear depth measurements, apply filters, change backgrounds, and create 3D models, from any device.”

Pelican Imaging’s Array Camera technology is very different than that of the popular smartphone cameras; it is made up of sixteen (16) tiny cameras that are arranged in an array. The camera works by taking sixteen focused images all at one, it then saves these images in a way that the user can then interact with the images after the photo has been taken. A user can refocus on any part of an image, do editing that was never before possible, look at dept information and even create 3d models from videos.

“Pelican Imaging’s advances in computational imaging have enabled a high-resolution light field camera in a very thin mobile form factor. The Pelican array camera captures images and video in native 3D, delivering users with the ability to perform 3D scanning, and also to easily apply photo edits such as refocus, multiple focus, distance measurement, and background subtraction/replacement. At under 4mm thick, the Pelican camera is ideally suited for mobile applications, as well as other growing markets including automotive, machine vision, defense, aerospace, security, healthcare, gaming, and retail.”

Pelican Imaging’s latest activity was a partnership with Jabil Circuit, Inc. Jabil is a global manufacturing services company, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. Together Pelican Imaging and Jabil plans to “produce a high-resolution array camera module for inclusion in a reference design that allows very accurate near-field and far-field depth acquisition.”

Pelican Imaging’s Array camera technology has long been expected to reach smartphones, but we still haven’t seen a smartphone release with the new camera technology. The new Jabil camera module that will come out of the partnership with Pelican Imaging should be available in Q2 of this year, so there is a possibility that we might see a device with this Array camera technology sometime in 2015.

Could this Jabil camera module based on Pelican’s array camera architecture, actually be a module for Ara?

An Array camera module would be absolutely perfect for Google’s Ara modular smartphone. No other current mobile camera technology is as advanced and capable. I understand that other companies will be looking into 3D camera modules, but the Array camera has been already capable of 3D imaging and much more.

I have since tried to contact Pelican Imaging for information, but I have not gotten a reply. As soon as I get a response, I will update this Article.