Scientists Are Developing An Electric Eye For Microscopic Robots

A group of researchers from Georgia State University has taken a major step towards bringing an artificial retinal device from science-fiction to science-fact, with color depth and scalability enhancements that have now made cameras for the tiniest, microscopic robots plausible.

Detailed in the ACS Nano journal in April (via Design News), the breakthrough in the study could stand for a new world of possibilities from the medical to the archaeological industries. 

The ‘eye’ is envisioned to aid professionals in their jobs. As vision is so important in our understanding of the world around us, the eye is designed for microrobots, making it possible to fit into microscopic places presently too small to support cameras. Applications may include diagnosis in the medical field, in addition to offering new perspectives in environmental and archaeological studies.

Previously, it had been a monumental feat to create an eye as small as this that could translate color as vividly as this new eye could. Color, especially in fields such as the medical one, is crucial when trying to study what is being looked at.

Scientists hope that this new find will not only advance the processes of these industries but also branch into artificial vision for those with visual impairments as biomimetic eyes and prosthetics.

[via Design News and Sci Tech Daily, image via Georgia State University]