Digital cameras when handheld can take much better pictues if their images are stabilized by micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope chips, which have just dropped below $2 at Invensense. Look for every digital camera--even those in the billions of cell phone cameras being used today--to use a MEMS gyro in five years. R.C.J.
Image stabilization algorithms sense the movement of a digital camera, then nudge the camera lens (or sometimes the sensor) to compensate for the movement. As mobile devices integrate higher-resolution cameras, adding relatively inexpensive MEMS gyroscopes is now an option, according to one manufacturer. Invensense Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) claims to be the first MEMS vendor to offer a digital, two-axis gyroscope chip for camera stabilization. Invensense previously claimed to also have developed the world's smallest analog dual-axis gyro. Since then, other vendors have followed suit. Invensense's digital gyro is a redesigned MEMS chip that consumes 50 percent less power than analog gyros.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219700113
