Vivo Designed a Pop-Up Multi-Zoom Telescoping Smartphone Camera

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has recently published schematics for a pyramid-like smartphone camera design that stacks multiple lenses on top of each other in a unique telescoping camera mechanism.

According to documentation on the design, Vivo wanted to try and get over a challenging hump: smartphones currently only support a small number of multiple-zoom options. This new method would enable it to make a larger zoom range possible within the small chassis of a smartphone and offer what appears to be at least four zoom options.

Unlike other pop-up camera designs that have been either patented or even implemented in the past, Vivo’s choice here wouldn’t be to have the cameras act as a selfie camera, but instead point towards the back of the camera and operate as the full main camera array for the system. The benefits of this design are twofold. First, the phone can be slim and seamless all around and would not require a camera bump because the cameras would not be…