Can a Camera Think Like a Robot and See Like a Fly?

Ever tried to swot a fly, only for it to easily fly off before you can get close? This is partly due to their incredible vision. Now, imagine we could develop a camera which could see just like a fly. And think like a super intelligent computer to understand what it’s seeing! 

That’s exactly what scientists in Shanghai have done. They’ve built a camera inspired by insect eyes and given it a super-smart AI “brain”

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence. It’s a bit like a brain for a computer. Instead of just following instructions, AI can solve problems, spot patterns, and even learn from experience.

Want to know more about how AI works and how it’s changing the way we treat people in hospitals? Check out this blog next!

What’s So Special About a Fly’s Vision?

First, why would we want to copy a fly’s vision? 

A fly and other insects see very differently from humans. Our eyes have one big lens, which focuses the light coming into our eyes for us to see. But an insect eye has hundreds or thousands of tiny lenses. 

Life under a microscope. A Thread🧵

1. Fly Eye pic.twitter.com/RG7BUnrtMv

— The Adventurous Soul (@TAdventurousoul) November 24, 2024

Each tiny lens captures a part of the scene from a different angle. When put together, it’s like a big jigsaw puzzle that gives the fly a wide view of the world. Almost all the way around its head!

Imagine being able to see what is happening to the side and behind you without turning around! They are also able to see when things are moving easily and quickly- exactly why they can see your hand well before you get to swot them! 

However, their vision isn’t as sharp as ours- the picture they see isn’t as clear as ours. But that’s ok when you are a fly! 

The Breakthrough: A Camera That Sees Like an Insect and Thinks Like a Supercomputer

A camera that could see all the way round like an insect would be cool- but what use is it if the picture is all blurry? That’s one of the problems the scientists from Shanghai wanted to solve.

They developed a camera shaped like a half-sphere. But instead of the usual one lens you might have seen on a camera before, this camera had an incredible 127 lenses. Not only this, but they used a powerful computer and artificial intelligence to make the images more useful. Let’s find out how. 

Long, Y., Dai, B., Chang, C., Upreti, N., Wei, L., Zheng, L., … Zhang, D. (2025). Seeing through arthropod eyes: An AI-assisted, biomimetic approach for high-resolution, multi-task imaging. Science Advances, 11(21), eadt3505. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt3505

E is an image of the camera the scientists designed and F is the same camera but taken with a special microscope. The bumps are the many lenses.

How It Works: Going Above and Beyond

Fly eyes normally come with fly-sized brains- quick but not exactly complicated. The same can’t be said of this camera. The researchers were inspired by insect brains- wanting the camera to have qualities like quickly spotting movement, tracking multiple targets, and recognising shapes; however, they took things further. 

Before we dive in to how the camera works- if you aren’t sure what AI is watch this:

The AI ‘super-brain’ they gave to the camera works in three stages;

1. The AI system works out where any objects that the many lenses are sensing are. It also detects what direction they are moving in and how far away they might be. This stage is similar to how an insect’s eyes work 
2. Next, the AI system makes the image a lot clearer– sorting out any blurry bits, filling in any missing gaps and turning all the pieces of the picture coming from the main lenses into one crystal clear image. Much clearer than an insect would be able to see. 
3. Finally, the AI computer uses its ability to learn and spot patterns to work out what it is looking at. Is it a number? A shape? What colour is it? In this way, the camera not only sees but understands. 

What’s Next? 

This camera isn’t fully ready yet. The work has only just begun. The researchers still need to work on getting the image even clearer, the computer faster, and making everything a lot smaller before it can be really useful. But once they manage that, this camera could be a real game-changer.

It could be used in drones– allowing us to see huge areas of landscape in incredible detail. This could be useful when searching for a lost person on a mountain, for example.

It could also be used to make tiny cameras for doctors to use. Doctors often use cameras to see inside us, to tell if there’s a problem or to help them in surgery. But if they could see all around the camera in detail, this could help them even more. Spotting things they may otherwise have missed.

These are just two examples of the many opportunities this camera could open up. 

Final thoughts 

Nature has always given scientists great ideas. After all, animals and insects have come up with clever ways to see, move, and survive. They’ve had millions of years to figure it out! Now, scientists are mixing those smart ideas from nature with powerful computer brains.

That means the technology of the future might not just copy nature it could work with it. Maybe one day, we’ll have machines that see better than humans, smell like dogs AND hear like bats. 

Science is awesome. So is asking questions.

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Keep Exploring

Want to see more amazing inventions? Check out:

• Swarms of tiny robots fighting lung disease
• Out of this world machines designed to water plants in space

Let’s Talk About It

And now we’d love to hear your thoughts. What other incredible inventions could we make by learning from the natural world?