Patent ID: 8253844

Claim:
A device for masking one or more selected areas of a field of view while capturing an image, comprising: an image aperture formed in the device; a first spatial light modulator (SLM) comprising an array of movable reflective elements, the first SLM being positioned at a first angle with respect to a central axis of image light rays entering the device through the image aperture, and the first SLM positioned such that the image light rays will strike at least some of the reflective elements on the first SLM; a second SLM comprising an array of movable reflective elements, the second SLM being positioned apart from the first SLM such that, when at least some of the first SLM reflective elements are in a first position, at least some of the image light rays reflected from the first SLM reflective elements positioned in the first position of the first SLM will strike at least part of the second SLM; and an image capturing device for use in recording an image, the image capturing device being located in a position such that, when at least some of the second SLM reflective elements are in a first position, at least some of the image light rays reflected from the second SLM reflective elements positioned in the first position of the second SLM will eventually strike at least part of the image capturing device.