Video on a Chip

Using the same ho-hum materials found in a personal computer, Marc Loinaz and his colleagues at Lucent Technologies have created every secret agent's dream contraption: a video camera the size of a cigarette lighter. Lucent's impetus was a little more practical, however. It was looking to create imaging devices "so cheap and low power they can be integrated into everything from wristwatches to kitchen appliances," Loinaz says.