Nature has been experimenting with visual solutions for hundreds of millions of years, and sometimes its designs look like something out of science fiction. Insects, for example, don’t see the world like we do. Their Compound eyes offer panoramic perception, great sensitivity to movement and an efficient way of processing information visual without requiring a huge brain.
Now, a team of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has used that ancient inspiration to create an artificial bionic eye that could change the way robots and machines “see” their environment thanks to his ability to imitate both the structure and functionality of insect eyesintegrating it into electronic systems to achieve a wide-field vision that also processes information efficiently. The progress has been published in Nature Communications.
Why are insect eyes so important in these types of studies linked to biomimetics? Human eyes work with a unique lens that focuses light onto a layer of sensitive cells, which then send signals to the brain. Insect eyes, however, are very different: they are made up of hundreds or thousands of units called ommatidia, each with its own lens and photoreceptor. The result is not a sharp image like ours, but it is panoramic vision, very sensitive to movement and capable of processing rapid changes in the environment.
That’s especially useful for small creatures that need to react quickly to threats or prey, without having a huge brain or complex processing systems. The objective of the authors, led by Tiger H. Tao, It was not to literally copy the eye of an insect, but to take its design principles and adapt them to modern engineering. To do this, they combined flexible materials, microfabrication and signal processing algorithms inspired by the way insects integrate visual data.
The result is a visual sensor that captures wide-field images (like a panoramic view) and with very high energy efficiencysomething that is difficult to achieve with conventional cameras and “human” sensors.
As with the human eye, the cameras and visual sensors that we use today in robots, phones or cars are usually based on a single glass and a flat sensor. This implies that they capture an image similar to that of a human, but with a limited field of vision. They also require intensive processing to recognize objects and movements and consume large amounts of power when seeking higher resolution or speed.
According to Tao’s team, this type of bionic eye could be integrated into mobile robots, drones or autonomous vehicles that need to “see” their environment quickly and with low energy consumption, without depending on bulky groups of sensors or powerful processors. Thus, this new bionic eye allows you to expand the visual field without the need for giant lenses, detect movement more efficiently, and reduce energy consumption.
This opens the door to visual systems that not only “see more,” but process what they see more like nature than the digital world. Bioinspired visual systems could greatly improve the autonomy of robots and autonomous vehicles, especially in situations where quick reaction to visual stimuli is needed, such as real-time obstacle avoidance or efficient operation with limited battery, for example, in small robots or distributed systems.
And now the million dollar question: could we use it on humans? Short answer: hmmmm. This “bionic eye” is not a retinal prosthesis like those that try to replace damaged cells in people with macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa. It is, above all, a bioinspired sensor for robotics, designed to improve machine perception. It is not designed to connect to the optic nerve or interact with the human brain. But…
In theory, some principles could have biomedical applications, for example, in artificial retinas with a better visual field or systems that process movement more efficiently before sending signals to the brain. In conclusion: Although this bionic eye is not designed as a human implant, it is part of a broader trend: using biological principles to improve artificial sensors. This means that, In the short term, it will be destined to robeithertica, drones, vehYoauto asseseithernomos, but in the medium and long term, it could serve as inspirationeithern for preithervisual theses or assistive devices.