Jiang Heng, Tsoi Chi Chung, Chai Yao, Yu Weixing, Tang Chi-Hung, Du Yu, Wang Zuankai, Jia Huaping, Zhang Xuming
Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China.
Photonics Research Institute (PRI), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China.
Sci Adv. 2025 Sep 5;11(36):eady2069. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ady2069.
Optical superposition natural compound eyes (OSNCEs) allow circadian insects to thrive in varying light conditions thanks to their unique anatomical structures. This provides a blueprint for optical superposition artificial compound eyes (OSACEs) that can adapt to different illumination intensities. However, OSACEs have received limited research attention until recently, with most studies focusing on apposition compound eyes that operate only in bright light. In this work, we accurately replicate the anatomical features and the ganglia adjustments of OSNCEs using lensed plastic optical fibers as artificial ommatidia. As the core part of this work, we implement a spatial approach alongside a temporal approach derived from both hardware and algorithms to accommodate lighting variations of up to 1000 times while still maintaining high image quality such as 180° field of view, minimal distortion, nearly infinite depth of field, and ultrafast motion detection. These adaptive biomimetic features make the OSACE very promising for surveillance, virtual reality, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
光学叠加式天然复眼（OSNCEs）因其独特的解剖结构，使昼夜活动的昆虫能够在不同光照条件下茁壮成长。这为可适应不同光照强度的光学叠加式人工复眼（OSACEs）提供了蓝图。然而，直到最近，OSACEs受到的研究关注还很有限，大多数研究集中在仅在强光下工作的并列复眼上。在这项工作中，我们使用带透镜的塑料光纤作为人工小眼，精确复制了OSNCEs的解剖特征和神经节调整。作为这项工作的核心部分，我们实施了一种空间方法以及一种源自硬件和算法的时间方法，以适应高达1000倍的光照变化，同时仍保持高图像质量，如180°视野、最小失真、近乎无限的景深和超快速运动检测。这些自适应仿生特征使OSACE在监视、虚拟现实和无人机方面极具前景。
