The internet is both excited and concerned about 'x-ray' vision camera in a new smartphone

Increasing access to smartphones with better cameras and platforms to share videos has also raised serious concerns about privacy. Many of these devices come with hidden features and even advanced tech such as LiDAR. Now a tech enthusiast has revealed a new smartphone with a camera that can see through fabric and plastic, triggering a fresh debate online. A company named Nothing launched the CMF Phone 1, an affordable smartphone, last week on July 12. The brand sought to infuse some excitement into the market by adding a fascinating feature to its device. However, they are now facing criticism over an x-ray like feature, after a digital creator named Maxwell-Bohui Lu (@purely_maxwell) made a bold claim about it on Instagram.

Maxwell discovered that the phone may allow people to see through certain materials by adjusting the camera settings. This unexpected feature has led to a heated debate online, with some praising the innovation and others raising concerns about privacy and misuse. “Here we have the latest phone from Nothing, the CMF Phone 1 and I’ve been using it for a little while now,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell explained that he was puzzled by one of the phone’s two cameras and couldn't find any information online about how to use it. After some research, he decided to download a third-party camera app to try and access the camera.“It appeared to be a low-res monochrome camera - that is until I accidentally pointed it against my TV remote,” Maxwell said. In his video, the Instagrammer showed how the CMF Phone 1’s camera could see through the back of his TV remote, revealing the batteries inside. This was not possible with the phone’s regular camera.

Maxwell then used the camera to see through a black bin bag and a grey t-shirt and also confirmed that he didn’t change any settings to use what is now being called the "X-ray camera."

Nothing’s co-founder, Akis Evangelidis, addressed the situation on social media after the video went viral. On July 13, he posted, "At Nothing, we have some of the most knowledgeable and crafty users in the world. It's also fair to say that our popularity attracts a lot of scrutiny. Ultimately, this drives continuous improvement, benefiting users - so we see it as a good thing." He went on to add, "In this case, while hundreds of millions of these camera depth sensors are out there, a CMF Phone 1 user went the extra mile and accessed the output of the depth sensor via a third-party app in developer mode, achieving a see-through effect. Let me explain how this works."

Akis explained, "We use triangulation to generate depth-of-field data by collecting images from the depth sensor and main camera to create cut-outs and apply blur effects using specific algorithms for the portrait mode." To make users more comfortable and aware he informed. "Unlike typical cameras, our depth sensor doesn't have an infrared light filter, enhancing its light-capturing ability. By definition, this includes infrared light, which can sometimes reveal the internal structure of thin or semi-transparent objects, especially when it's black acrylic material. "

He ended his post by mentioning that users won't be able to use the depth sensor through the Nothing Camera app, which was a cause for concern among some people. According to recent updates, Nothing has blocked third-party apps from using the depth sensor with a software update.