A new way of seeing our world

Today’s digital cameras are very advanced. Some of them will even capture detail that the human eye cannot perceive. Some can work in parts of the colour/light spectrum that we cannot fathom. On the other hand, the human eye or for that matter, the eyes of most other animals are very complex structures that have been engineered over millions of years by Nature.

While the human eye is no doubt a very complex structure, the eyes of some other animals beat it hands down for sheer resolution. The cat in your house can extract more details in near total darkness. An eagle can clearly see the hair on the back of a rabbit being pursued. Many insects have eyes that can detect even the tiniest movements.

Technology is catching up with these nature’s creations. According to the latest report, the next generation of digital cameras could show us how bugs see the world. This is no easy feat, given that insect eyes are really complex organs.

Their dome-shaped eyes are packed with multiple tiny eye elements topped with corneal lenses. The first digital camera prototype is closest to the fire ant's compound eyes, which only have 180 of these optical units, called ommatidia.

The praying mantis has about 15,000 and the dragonfly approximately 28,000, while the worker ant has only 100.

Researchers have now created a digital camera that imitates the bulging eyes of insects, specifically fire ants and bark beetles. The cameras can capture a 160-degree-wide field of view with nearly infinite depth of field, meaning all areas of the photo will be in focus. The tiny domes are covered in 180 microlenses, each capturing a unique angle of the subject.

Engineering

“We feel that the insect world provides extremely impressive examples of engineering - in the vision, flight, power and sensing systems. I, personally, have been intrigued by the insect eye for as long as I can remember,” says professor John Rogers of the University of Illinois, who worked on the advanced camera.

But why should someone build and want a bug-eye camera? This technology could one day be used to create high-resolution

surveillance cameras that capture a large, expansive scene, all in sharp focus. They would also be an ideal fit Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) used for surveillance. It would also have practical applications for high resolution endoscopic cameras, the small devices doctors use to peek inside the human body. TV coverage of sports events could also benefit.

As Rogers points out, Nature provides a remarkable diversity of ideas for designs in cameras. “We think that it will be interesting to explore some of these, because in many cases, the concepts offer unique and powerful capabilities in imaging.”

Most digital cameras have a flat sensor and a single camera lens. The working prototypes of this digital camera have hundreds of lenses instead of one and bend the basic elements found in a digital camera into a rounded shape.

The images are recorded in their original shape on a computer, though they can be flattened if necessary for printing purposes. The resolution of the experimental camera is on par with the fire ant.

Researchers think they can improve that with more advanced manufacturing facilities.

The team is already preparing to manufacture the next versions of the technology: digital cameras that imitate the even more complex compound eyes of shrimp, lobsters, moths and houseflies.

This is not dissimilar to a new invention called the Lytro camera, which works by employing a micro lens array to capture the entire light field - every ray of light traveling in all directions through a scene, which regular cameras cannot do - before focusing the information captured onto a sensor.

Collecting all light data enables users to alter a picture's focus and perspective long after the image has been taken. The camera, invented by Malaysian scientists Ren Ng, is expected to hit the market in a few years.

Better cameras that take cues from Nature could have another practical application: enabling blind persons to ‘see’ at least a rudimentary outline, if not a full-blown picture. The eye in any animal covers only half of the picture, so to speak. To get the full picture, the brain has to process the information sent by the eyes.

Condition

There is some hope for blind people whose optic nerve is in a satisfactory condition, if it can be connected to an artificial (Bionic) eye. There are several such devices in testing stage right now. The first artificial retina was approved for clinical use a few weeks ago. Another team of scientists said they had developed a retina implant that can convert images into electronic signals that can be interpreted by the brain. The device - the Argus II - is a camera mounted on a pair of glasses, which sends information to a chip resting on the retina.

The chip is able to send signals through the optic nerve to the brain, giving the user a low-resolution - but real - realtime image of the world. This also gives rise to another possibility - robots whose eyes are actually better than those of ours.

There is already talk of more intelligent, almost autonomous robots coming up in the not too distant future. They will need vision that can complement their ‘intelligent’ capability.

However, robots need not necessarily be humanoid in shape and size - they can be made in almost any shape. There could be many practical applications such as inspecting minute cracks in oil pipelines using robots that can ‘see’ exceptionally well.

In the meantime, camera enthusiasts will have very exciting and technologically advanced cameras in their hands soon. Even with the sheer variety of cameras in the market now, there is still room for innovative cameras that can capture a scene from a unique perspective.

However, there is a lag between research prototypes and the commercial introduction of a given product, which can impede the progress of technology. Universities and private companies must collaborate more effectively on research projects to bring products to the markets sooner, especially when it involves an option such as a new way of seeing the world.