Sony patents for front-facing camera behind phone screen

The Japanese electronics giants Sony has filed for a patent application that will allow users to control their phones more accurately without touching the capacitive displays which is happening on many modern smartphones. In Sony’s patent, they will be placing the camera behind the glass touchscreen as opposed to above it. Sony’s actions are in hopes that this will enable the user to more accurately pin point where a user is pointing without them having to touch the display.

The move would allow Sony to create shorter phones and may bring the target of bezel-less phones that much closer. And to the joy of many, this will also reduce fingerprints smudging up the glossy finish on most screens. Besides just the camera, Sony also hopes to use the technology to the fullest by placing the proximity sensor, ambient light sensor and fingerprint sensor also behind the touchscreen.

Thus far, Pantech has implemented gesture control on the Vega using the front-facing camera. However, on the Vega, the camera is situated in the traditional location, next to the earpiece. For now, it is unclear if Sony will launch a phone or tablet with these capabilities in the future, or if they will keep the technology to license rivals for use on other products.