The team created an ultra-thin camera that can capture clear images in low-light conditions while maintaining high frame rates. (Image courtesy of KAIST)
DAEJEON, Jan. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — A team of researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed an innovative camera system that achieves both high-speed imaging and exceptional sensitivity by mimicking the compound eyes of insects, the university announced on January 16.
Led by Jeong Ki-hun from the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering and Kim Min Hyuk from the School of Computing, the team created an ultra-thin camera that can capture clear images in low-light conditions while maintaining high frame rates – a combination that has traditionally been difficult to achieve.
Conventional high-speed cameras face a fundamental limitation: as frame rates increase, the time available to collect light decreases, resulting in darker images. The KAIST team overcame this challenge by developing a system that parallels the remarkable visual capabilities of insects.
The new camera, measuring less than 1mm in thickness, utilizes multiple independent microlenses arranged similarly to an insect’s compound eye. By combining images from different time periods in parallel, the system can achieve sensitivity up to 40 times higher than traditional high-speed cameras in low-light conditions, according to the researchers.
In laboratory tests, the team successfully captured stable footage of a disk rotating at 1,950 revolutions per minute, recording at 9,120 frames per second while accurately measuring the disk’s velocity.
The technology draws inspiration from how insects process visual information. In nature, compound eyes detect fast-moving objects in parallel, while their visual cells can combine several hours of signals to boost sensitivity in dark environments.
The researchers anticipate that their innovation could find applications across various fields, including mobile camera systems, security surveillance, and medical imaging.
The study was published in the January issue of Science Advances.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
