Tiny Insect-Inspired Camera Captures 9,120 FPS in Near Darkness

A close-up of a robber fly’s eyes.

Scientists have created a tiny camera inspired by insect eyes that captures 9,120 frames per second (FPS), producing clear images even in low-light conditions.

Many insects can see well in the dark because of their unique array of eyes. These compound eyes are made up of many small units called ommatidia, each with its own tiny lens. Each ommatidium collects light from a different angle, allowing insects to take in information from multiple directions all at once. They also use a process called “temporal summation,” which means they gather light over a short period to create a clearer picture in low light. This gives them fast and highly sensitive vision.

Because their eyes work in parallel, insects can quickly spot and follow moving objects — like prey or threats — even when it’s dark. By collecting light over time, their eyes become more sensitive to low-light environments.

According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) were inspired by the visual structure of insect eyes and developed a camera that works in a similar way.

The insect-eye inspired camera is made small enough to fit on a finger, with a thickness of less than 1 mm.

Designed by a research team led by Professors Ki-Hun Jeong and Min H. Kim, the bio-inspired camera is incredibly thin — less than one millimeter thick — and compact, yet it can record 9,120 FPS and still produce clear images in the dark.

The camera, called the high-speed, high-sensitivity microlens array camera (HS-MAC), mimics the design of insect eyes. Instead of using a single lens to take one picture at a time, it uses many tiny lenses to capture different parts of a scene at different moments. These are then stitched together to produce sharp, clear videos — even in very low light.

“The research team adopted an approach similar to insect vision, utilizing multiple optical channels and temporal summation,” the researchers write in a press release. “Unlike traditional monocular camera systems, the bio-inspired camera employs a compound-eye-like structure that allows for the parallel acquisition of frames from different time intervals.”

According to a report by Interesting Engineering, this parallel acquisition helps the camera gather more light, improving its sensitivity even when capturing fast-moving objects. Rather than capturing each frame entirely separately, the camera records frames with slight temporal overlap. This method allows light to accumulate over time, enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio.

A stronger signal-to-noise ratio means the images are sharper and more accurate, which is particularly important in dim lighting. Interesting Engineering reports that the researchers demonstrated that their camera could detect objects up to 40 times dimmer than what conventional high-speed cameras are capable of seeing.

Their “channel-splitting” method greatly improved the camera’s speed, enabling frame rates that are thousands of times faster than those achievable with typical image sensors used in device manufacturing. To maintain image clarity, the team applied a “compressed image restoration” algorithm that effectively reduces motion blur.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos and center photos via Science Advances.