A proximity sensing apparatus comprising: an optical source including a plurality of VCSELs configured in a 2-D spatial arrangement, such that one or more object located within a physical space can be illuminated completely or partially, by an incident radiation beam from the plurality of VCSELs; a radiation detection apparatus co-located with the optical source in at least one plane, and separated in one orthogonal plane in the physical space, wherein the radiation detection apparatus is disposed at a pre-determined angle with respect to the optical source, said radiation detection apparatus generates one or more electrical signal proportional to reflected radiation received from the one or more object; and an electronic instrument including, a programmable current driver to operate said optical source, a data storage device to store the one or more electrical signals generated in response to the reflected light received by the radiation detection apparatus, and a processor, wherein the processor applies one or more signal processing operation to the one or more electrical signals to determine distance corresponding the one or more object, wherein the 2-D spatial arrangement of the plurality of VCSELs comprises a plurality of groups, clusters or arrays of VCSELs, each group, cluster or array being individually addressable, the current driver is operable to generate structured illumination from the optical source by operating a pre-determined number of the groups, clusters or arrays separately in a programmable mode or in a pre-determined timed sequence, the programmable current driver operates a group, cluster or array of the 2-D spatial arrangement of the plurality of VCSELs to generate multiple incident radiation beams in a pre-determined sequence such that a corresponding different section of the one or more object is sequentially illuminated, wherein the radiation detection apparatus generates one or more electrical signal proportional to a measurement of the intensity of reflected radiation received sequentially from the one or more object; and the processor applies one or more signal processing operation to the one or more electrical signals in synchronization with the pre-determined sequence of the incident radiation beams, such that a time of flight and an intensity profile corresponding to different sections of the one or more object is determined to compute a distance and an image of the one or more object. an optical source including a plurality of VCSELs configured in a 2-D spatial arrangement, such that one or more object located within a physical space can be illuminated completely or partially, by an incident radiation beam from the plurality of VCSELs; a radiation detection apparatus co-located with the optical source in at least one plane, and separated in one orthogonal plane in the physical space, wherein the radiation detection apparatus is disposed at a pre-determined angle with respect to the optical source, said radiation detection apparatus generates one or more electrical signal proportional to reflected radiation received from the one or more object; and an electronic instrument including, a programmable current driver to operate said optical source, a data storage device to store the one or more electrical signals generated in response to the reflected light received by the radiation detection apparatus, and a processor, wherein the processor applies one or more signal processing operation to the one or more electrical signals to determine distance corresponding the one or more object, wherein the 2-D spatial arrangement of the plurality of VCSELs comprises a plurality of groups, clusters or arrays of VCSELs, each group, cluster or array being individually addressable, the current driver is operable to generate structured illumination from the optical source by operating a pre-determined number of the groups, clusters or arrays separately in a programmable mode or in a pre-determined timed sequence, the programmable current driver operates a group, cluster or array of the 2-D spatial arrangement of the plurality of VCSELs to generate multiple incident radiation beams in a pre-determined sequence such that a corresponding different section of the one or more object is sequentially illuminated, wherein the radiation detection apparatus generates one or more electrical signal proportional to a measurement of the intensity of reflected radiation received sequentially from the one or more object; and the processor applies one or more signal processing operation to the one or more electrical signals in synchronization with the pre-determined sequence of the incident radiation beams, such that a time of flight and an intensity profile corresponding to different sections of the one or more object is determined to compute a distance and an image of the one or more object.