The super-fast camera captures 9,120 frames per second

The research team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed a camera inspired by insect eyes to take extremely high-speed images in low light conditions, Interesting Engineering reported on January 17. The research results are published in the journal Science Advances.

The new camera is less than 1 mm thick, making it easy to integrate into various systems. It’s capable of capturing 9,120 frames per second, producing clear images even in low light conditions, just like insects. Therefore, the device has potential applications in many fields, such as establishing mobile camera systems, security monitoring, and medical imaging.

“We tested and confirmed that the insect eye-inspired camera has excellent performance in high-speed low-light photography despite its small size,” said Hyun-Kyung Kim, PhD student at KAIST’s Department of Biological and Brain Engineering, lead author of the study, said.

Insect eyes are made up of many tiny units called ommatidium, each of which operates independently, allowing them to process information from different parts of the visual field at the same time. This parallel processing helps them quickly detect and track fast-moving objects such as prey or enemies. In low light conditions, insect eyes increase sensitivity by integrating light signals over longer periods of time.

“Different from traditional single-eye camera systems, biologically inspired cameras use a compound eye-like structure that allows parallel acquisition of multiple frames from different time periods,” the research team said. This parallel reception helps the camera collect more light, improving sensitivity even when capturing fast-moving subjects.

The team of scientists also demonstrated that the new camera can shoot in conditions 40 times darker than traditional high-speed cameras. The channel splitting technique also significantly increases the speed of the camera. This results in frame rates thousands of times faster than cameras equipped with the type of image sensors used in packaging. To ensure sharp images, the research team also used a compressed image restoration algorithm, which helps eliminate blur.

Scientists plan to develop this technology further by creating advanced image processing algorithms. They will allow the camera to capture 3D images and achieve super-resolution images.