Researchers at Pointcloud GmbH in Zürich, Switzerland, have packed advanced 4D sensing technology — once too bulky for everyday use — onto a single silicon chip.

It’s a 4D imaging sensor that maps the physical world while simultaneously clocking the speed of every object it sees. It offers a low-cost, high-speed vision solution for everything from autonomous drones to future smartphones.

“This result demonstrates the capabilities of FMCW LiDAR FPA sensors as enablers of ubiquitous, low-cost, compact coherent 4D imaging cameras,” the researchers wrote in the study paper.