Future of Engineering

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University have developed an electronic-eye camera.

There are lot of developments happening in the world of digital camera. So, what's so unique about this electric-eye camera?

The answer lies in its curved nature. Currently when photos are taken, the picture is clear in the middle but at the edges it is blurred. The curved technology ensures that the entire picture is clean and clear.

"This is the first time we've demonstrated a camera on a curved surface to really make it look like a human eye," said Yonggang Huang of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

Wow! So why didn't they think about this earlier?

They did. And also tried to implement it. But to their dismay when microelectronic components were transferred onto a curved surface it broke under pressure.

Transferring microelectronic components onto a curved surface without breaking them was the task before Huang and Rogers. Guess what? They've found a simple solution to prevent breakage.

"Huang and Rogers developed a mesh-like material made up of tiny squares that hold the photodetectors and electronic components. The squares are connected by tiny wires that give each component the ability to mold to a curved surface."

This fantastic development goes beyond vacation photos.The device could be used to make better imaging equipment, such as curved sensors to monitor brain activity that follow the contours of the brain. It could even be used in the development of an artificial retina or a bionic eye.

Source - PC Pro
Image source - Newscom.com

Labels: Design-Engineering, Robotics