New Scientist has an article talking about a new patent filed by Apple that deals with integrating a camera into LCD a monitor.

“The clever idea is to insert thousands of microscopic image sensors in-between the liquid crystal display cells in the screen. Each sensor captures its own small image, but software stitches these together to create a single, larger picture.

A large LCD screen filled with image sensors would be ideal for videoconferencing, Apple suggests, as participants would always appear to look straight into the “camera”. The technique could also add a camera function to a cellphone or PDA without wasting space, and light from the screen should help illuminate a subject.

The more sensors there are, the wider and clearer the image. Sketches accompanying the company’s patent show as many sensors as liquid crystal cells in a screen. If some of the sensors have different focal lengths, switching between them would make the screen behave like a zoom lens.”

Here’s a few possibilities:
*Video conferencing (you are looking at the screen anyway, how sweet is that)
*Lighting/flash built into the lens (sorta like a big LCD ringlight)
*Camera/Screen integration in Mobiles and PDAs (saves space/complexity)
*Face/eye/gaze/motion tracking (for UI and games)

And if you are wondering about the Soviet Russia-related title, read this. Sorry. I had to.

(Via Slashdot)