(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/05/5-2-2013img10.jpg) (http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/02/camera-inspired-by-insect-eyes/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget)
Technologists have been drawing inspiration (http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/06/scientists-develop-sticky-tape-inspired-by-insect-feet/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget) from the insect world for a long time. And folks working on robotics really seem to love their creepy-crawlies (http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/19/hector-insect-inspired-hexapod-walking-robot-is-a-smooth-operato/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget) and buzzing arthropods (http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/29/bionicopter-dragonfly-drone/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget). Researchers at the University of Illinois are looking to our eight-legged planet mates, not for mobility lessons, but as a reference for a new camera design. The system mimics the vision of bees and mantises by combining multiple lenses on a half hemisphere to provide a 180-degree view with a nearly infinite depth of field. The optics themselves are described as "soft, rubbery" and each individual microlens is paired with its own photodiode. The work gets us a heck of a lot closer to the dream of a digital fly eye than previous efforts (http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/09/artificial-bee-eye-gives-diminutive-robotic-air-drones-wider-ran/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget), though we're likely still quite a while from seeing applications outside of the lab. DARPA funding suggests the artificial compound eyes (http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/22/trilobite-compound-eye-puts-a-paleozoic-spin-on-mobile-camera/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget) may have a future in surveillance, though the researchers also see uses for it in medicine.
Filed under: Cameras (http://www.engadget.com/category/cameras/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget)
Comments (http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/02/camera-inspired-by-insect-eyes/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments)
Via: The Verge (http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/1/4290190/scientists-build-an-insect-inspired-camera-system)
Source: University of Illinois (https://engineering.illinois.edu/news/2013/04/29/bug%E2%80%99s-view-inspires-new-digital-camera%E2%80%99s-unique-imaging-capabilities)
Via: Engadget