Ever wonder how a fly views the world?

Damian Koh | May 02, 2006

Well, soon you'll have the answer. Bioengineering Professor Luke Lee and his team from the University of California in Berkeley have created the "first hemispherical, three-dimensional optical system to integrate arrays of tiny lenses with self-aligned, self-written waveguides, or light-conducting channels". My, that was a mouthful.

Basically, the team of bioengineers (which also includes Ki-Hun Jeong and Jaeyoun Kim) modeled the compound eyes of insects and, with the help of tiny lenses, use these to capture a wider field of vision--wider than a fish-eye lens according to the news release.

Ultraman, 1966. Credit: Japan Hero

Potential applications for such "eyes" include surveillance, high-speed motion detection, environmental sensing, medical procedures that require cameras and a number of clinical treatments that could be controlled by implanted light-delivery devices.