Skip to main content

New camera gives users a bug’s-eye view of things

By

A new camera is breaking barriers

A new digital camera designed by a team of scientists literally sees what bugs see. The camera’s design recreates the structure of insects’ eyes to project a fuller, wider, and more focused view than is possible with even the best conventional digital cameras today.

Fire ants and bark beetles were the specific model for this camera, according to a report that the researchers, one of whom is John Rogers, a University of Illinois chemistry and physics professor, published in the May 2 edition of Nature. The report explains that the eye of one of these bugs consists of 200-500 long, cylindrical units called omatidia, each of which includes a cornea connected to a photosensitive organ and surrounded by dark pigment to keep light on one lens from leaking into another lens. All of these omatidia cluster together, with the lens facing outward, to form the bulging multicellular eye shape that we all associate with the insect kingdom. The only key difference among most of them is the number—the dragonfly’s eye has hundreds more omatidia, a level of complexity that defies human engineers’ present-day modeling abilities.

So Rogers’ team emulates the simpler fire ants and bark beetles’ eye by incorporating 200-500 omatidia-like units, each one including an elastic compound that connects a small micolens on one end to a light-receptive computer chip on the other; with all of the “omatidia” embedded in a flexible, curved sheet of rubber.

The lens bulges outward and can capture a view 160 degrees wide, far beyond the visual range of a conventional camera lens, and almost equal to that of a pair of human eyes—human eyes have a vision field almost 180 degrees wide.

But the camera captures the whole field with full depth of field, which means that everything within that 160-degree range is in full focus all at once. That’s a feat that not even the sharpest human eyes can achieve. Just try focusing for a few seconds on everything that your eyes can see at one time for a live demonstration of this. This insectoid camera also doesn’t suffer from the light distortion and peripheral distance effects that are common in many conventional camera lenses.

The prototype camera has an image resolution that’s about on par with the image resolution of a fire ant’s eyes—usable, but less crystal-clear than most human users would like. Higher resolutions will be possible with further product development and fine-tuning, though, according to the researchers.

It will be a long time before any such camera is available for sale to consumers, but the researchers hope that it will be ready for applications in professional surveillance cameras or on military drones in the near future.

Read more: http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/new-camera-gives-users-a-bugs-eye-view-of-things/#ixzz2S9exl3Ge

Blogger Labels: Digital Camera,Bug-eye view,scientists,insects,camera
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A MASON IN NIGERIA

By
 After all i have said about this fraternity if you are still interested in becoming a mason there are just simply ways in which you can do that, but inspite of my post i am neither encouraging nor discouraging you all i am doing is just to let you know more about this frat and there's more to come about those who have joined, the so called stars like jay-z, kanye west etc i guess its just 7 simple ways to join and off you go  Are there things you want to accomplish in your life? Are there ways you want to enrich yourself? Do you enjoy being with people you like and respect? As a Freemason, you’ll find friendship and fraternity. You’ll develop life skills like self-confidence, leadership, and effective communication. You’ll learn to work as part of a team  and to better yourself as you help others. Think about taking the first step into becoming a Mason. It is widely thought that one must be invited to become a Freemason or that Freemasonry is so exclusive as to be b...
240 comments
Read more

13 Places You Should Visit In before the end of 2013

By
  Wikimedia Commons It's more than halfway through 2013 and even though the summer is winding down, there's still plenty of time to book a trip to a great destination. We looked at major developments, cultural trends, and global festivals to find the hottest places to travel around the world in 2013. There are vast untouched landscapes that offer incredible outdoor experiences, cities that are experiencing a cultural rebirth, and up-and-coming destinations that offer great deals and few tourists. London, England Since Kate Middleton gave birth to Prince George Alexander Louis last week , England has been in the national spotlight, and is expecting a tourism boost. But that's not the only reason to visit the UK right now. The 2012 Summer Olympics in London came and went, but many of the buildings, restaurants, hotels and venues that sprouted up to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of visitors who came for the Olympics still stand. Several new building...
Post a Comment
Read more

50 life lessons you can still learn now that your young.....

By
You’re stronger than you think you are. Mistakes teach you important lessons. Every time you make one, you’re one step closer to your goal. There is nothing to hold you back except you. You can press forward long after you can’t. It’s a matter of wanting it bad enough. No matter how much progress you make there will always be the people who insist that whatever you’re trying to do is impossible. You are limited only by your own imagination. Let it fly. Perception is reality. Your instincts can be trusted. There is only one question to ask yourself: “What would you do if you were not afraid?” It’s often hard to tell just how close you are to success. The only mistake that can truly hurt you is choosing to do nothing simply because you’re too scared to make a mistake. Never let success get to your head, and never let failure get to your heart. You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how ...
Post a Comment
Read more