Conventional cameras are in many ways based upon concepts inspired by the human eye, which is quite natural as that makes most intuitive sense to us. However this is not always the optimal solution for all cameras. There has recently been progress in developing cameras based upon the mechanisms of the compound eye, which is quite popular among insects. In simple terms, the compound eye is a layer of many smaller “eyes”, which then observe the surroundings from multiple angles, allowing the brain/processor to merge all the collected information into a single image.
This method of image sensing and processing provides improved processing speed, field of vision and focal depth at the expense of resolution. But even then, using the phenomenon of hyperacuity, a good resolution can be obtained when observing moving objects. These advantages make the compound eye camera very useful in some areas of application, namely robotics, security as well as medical uses. However the production is yet limited to prototypal development conducted by universities, as the manufacturing is yet too expensive for the camera to be commercially viable.
