How To Draw Bunny Ears

xiaomi bunny ears pop up camera phone patent

TL;DR

Xiaomi has applied for a patent on a phone that would use "bunny ears" pop-up cameras.
It would hide two cameras on both the front and back.
It's not clear if Xiaomi plans to use this design.

Xiaomi is no stranger to exploring strange camera designs, but its latest may be particularly clever — and also a bit cute.Tiger Mobiles reports that Xiaomi has filed for a patent on a smartphone design that would use two pop-up cameras in a "bunny ears" arrangement.

Each unit would not only pop out at an angle, but carry a camera for both the front and back. In theory, this would make it easy to include dual front and rear cameras while eliminating the need for a notch or hole punch on the screen.

It would otherwise be a very typical smartphone with stereo speakers and a USB-C port, albeit with the flash sitting by itself on the back. As this is a patent, it could just be a placeholder design to show how the cameras would work.

Read more: Xiaomi shows under-screen camera tech for 2021 phones

As with many patents, there's no guarantee Xiaomi will build a shipping phone based on the design. This is an idea, not necessarily a product roadmap. However, the company is no stranger to pop-up cameras, having implemented them in the Mi 9T series and multiple Redmi models.

There are also practical reasons for considering a system like this. It can be impractical to offer more than one pop-up selfie camera without compromising space for rear cameras and other phone components. A concept like this could allow for wide-angle selfies or similar tricks while keeping the cameras' overall footprint to a minimum. Even if Xiaomi doesn't use this exact design, the ideas involved could lead to sleeker all-screen phones.