Samsung patents a wild rotating camera module for its foldable phones

When it comes to the front-facing camera on smartphones, we’ve had brands trying various solutions to ensure that the selfie camera doesn’t impact the user experience. While we wait for the under-display cameras to offer satisfactory results, Samsung is probably looking to add another option to its repertoire.

The South Korean tech giant has patented a totally different solution and wants to implement a rotating camera on its upcoming foldable smartphone. Though from what we’ve seen, this rotating camera module is totally wild and something that we’ve never seen before.

Spotted by MySmartPrice, the patent filed at WIPO suggests that Samsung wants to implement a rotating camera module on its upcoming foldable phones. This camera module uses a stalk to rotate up to 180-degrees, thus doubling the same setup as the rear camera, when required.

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Going by the patent documents, Samsung has thought about different placements of the camera module. Though ideally placed on one of the edges of the device, however, it could be placed both horizontally or vertically. Further, when the device is folded the cameras would point outwards and when the device is unfolded, the cameras will automatically swivel inwards to become selfie cameras.

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Samsung Foldable Phone Rotating Camera Patent — (Image credit: WIPO)

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Though the camera app also will allow the user to change the camera position and will also offer the user the liberty to control the camera position with the help of a slider. This would ideally give users better control over the camera module and could allow them to shoot images from a different perspective.

We’ve Asus adding similar controls to its flipping camera on the Zenfone 6 and allowing users to track an object with the camera while it flips back to the position.

However, Samsung’s patent suggests that the camera module has motion sensors thus making it possible to move and adjust its position according to the placement of the device.

That said, any moving part on a smartphone needs extra care as we’ve seen in the case of a buggy hinge in the original Galaxy Fold. Additionally, it also means that the smartphone itself becomes vulnerable to dust and water, hence it would be interesting to see how Samsung manages to pull off multiple moving parts on a foldable phone.