Scientists create smart glass camera iris

DETAILED: Images of the EC-iris in the four individual states. The iris can be opened or closed like a mechanical aperture.

A new breakthrough could open manufacturers' eyes to new smaller smartphone camera designs and has the potential to run rings around existing imaging technology. 

Researchers from Germany's University of Kaiserslautern have created a smart glass ‘iris' that works in the same way as the human eye and that could replace the conventional mechanical aperture in smartphone, tablet and notebook computer cameras.