Oppo patents a smartphone with a selfie camera sliding sideways

Oppo is no stranger to moving cameras on its phones - from the N1 all the way back in 2013 to the Find X slider and the Reno 10x zoom with its sharkfin. But despite sticking to more conventional designs for the past two years it's still considering some interesting ideas.

Thanks to a dig by LetsGoDigital, we know the Chinese company has patented a sideways sliding selfie camera that goes from one end of the top bezel to the other.

The patent filled with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) is 33 pages long, detailing how this would work. The idea behind the sliding camera is to capture images from different angles, and that would be done if the camera sensor is mounted on a guide block, going from one end to another on a rail.

There will be a tiny motor that does the job, and the movement will occur only when the selfie camera is activated through the dedicated app.

Taking selfies from an angle might be another artistic way to do frontal photography, but we believe this camera will be able to recreate 3D images of the user’s head without actually moving the device.

Other applications for this technology could be improved portrait mode, or panorama group photos.

Via (in Dutch)