After Xiaomi’s patent for smartphone design with a twisting camera module and a rotating camera surfaced online a few months ago, patents of phone design with a foldable screen and a pop-up selfie camera were revealed.
Now, yet another smartphone patent from Xiaomi has surfaced online which shows a unique camera module designed in such a way that the front-facing camera sensors won’t be visible when not in use.
The aim of this design is pretty clear. The company wants to use as much front space as possible for the display. So, there are no camera sensors placed on the front side and the entire front panel is covered with a screen.
From the images, it seems that the camera module has a rotating design so when the front-facing camera is triggered, the module rotates and a sensor pops out. Because of 360-degree rotation support, the camera can also slide out from the side of the phone.
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This design patent could be an alternative to the current pop-up camera mechanism as well as an alternative to the under-display camera technology. While Visionox has announced in-display camera technology for mass production, some brands have said that the tech isn’t yet ready for flagship-grade performance.
As for this particular patent, it remains to be seen if Xiaomi decides to go ahead and start working on a smartphone with this design to bring it out commercially. As not all patents see the light of the day, there’s no certainty that we’ll see a smartphone with this design getting launched.
