Scientists in the US have made the first artificial eye using 3D polymer structures. The eye, which is made from individual "ommatidia" -- or single lenses -- arranged in a dome shape, is similar in structure to an insect's compound eye. It was developed by Luke Lee and colleagues at the University of California at Berkeley. Each ommatidium consists of a refractive polymer microlens, a light-guiding polymer cone, and a waveguide that together collect and direct light into an optoelectronics detector that can recognize images. If perfected, such eyes could be used in medicine, environmental monitoring, industry and the military (Science 321 557).
You’ve reached the limit of what you can view on Physics World without registering
If you already have an account on Physics World, then please sign in to continue reading
If you do not yet have an account, please register so you can
- Access more than 20 years of online content
- Choose which e-mail newsletters you would like to receive
