Insect Eyes & Digital Camera Technology Innovation
Researchers built digital cameras modelled on insect compound eyes, using curved arrays of tiny lenses instead of one flat sensor. This yields an ultra-wide field of view, near-infinite depth of field and sharper motion capture than current cameras.
A team of scientists has created the first digital cameras that mimic the eye systems of dragonflies, bees, and other insects. This technology offers exceptionally wide-angle fields of view with low aberration, high motion sharpness, and nearly infinite depth of field.
Drawing on hints from nature, the cameras use large arrays of small focusing lenses and miniature detectors arranged in a hemispherical configuration, much like arthropod eyes.
Arthropod eyes use compound designs in which arrays of smaller eyes work together to enable image perception. Each small eye, known as an ommatidium, consists of a corneal lens (the eye's clear front layer), a crystalline cone, and a light-sensitive organ at its base. The entire system is configured to provide extraordinary imaging properties, many of which remain beyond the reach of existing human-made cameras.
Source: Science Daily
How do insect compound eyes work?What cameras are inspired by insect eyes?Why do insects have better depth of field than humans?How does ommatidium structure affect vision?What is the advantage of compound eye design in cameras?Can digital cameras achieve infinite depth of field?How are bee eyes different from human eyes?What is bio-inspired camera technology?
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