Dash

3D imaging is one subject of great interest to me. Surely there will be a enormous demand for it, and multitudinal future uses discovered.

I find the future in the potential uses of gesture recogniton to be packed with potential.

Either way, this "low hanging fruit" will be as lucrative as it is exciting.

http://www.myvcsel.com/gesture-recognition-and-3d-sensing/

Distributed Feedback Laser (DFB) are a type of edge emitter laser (EEL) also being considered for gesture recognition. However, DFBs are limited in that they tend to be fixed in their output power. Thus, to scale power, multiple DFBs are required. Additionally, power scales in large steps.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology, while low cost, emits light in 180 degrees and so must output more power to overcome losses. In addition, LEDs cannot be modulated quickly, limiting resolution and increasing power consumption through increased flash duration.

VCSELs bring together the advantages of low cost and optical efficiency within a small footprint. They further have the advantage of wavelength stability over temperature and are directionally focused to maximize output efficiency. In addition, because VCSELs are top-side emitting, they may be integrated with simpler optics and can be mounted as dies on printed circuit boards or integrated with a laser, driver, and control logic all within the same package.