Thin like a thought

Filed in archive Science on May 3, 2006

Learning from insects eye's - scientist at Berkeley had created a series of artificial compound eyes that could be used to make ultrathin camera phones or wearable cameras.

The material they use for this incredible small eye is an epoxy resin and it is build in a self-alignment, self-writing process.

What else can they be used for?
Potential applications include surveillance, high-speed motion detection, environmental sensing, medical procedures that require cameras (such as endoscopies and image-guided surgeries) and a number of clinical treatments that can be controlled by implanted light-delivery devices.

Picture: A scanning electron microscope image of the surface of an artificial compound eye showing some of the 8700 hexagonal microlenses that make up its surface. (Image: Science magazine/Luke Lee)