Nature pips science to the post

Science is always striving to mimic things which nature has evolved to do several, if not thousands of years before, and nocturnal vision is the trait of investigation for a group of scientist in Sweden.

Bio-inspiration uses Nature as a model, imitating solutions that it has ‘invented’ through evolution to construct technological solutions to problems. Eric Warrant and his colleagues at the Department of Biology at Lund University have been studying the function of eyes in various animal species, especially in terms of seeing in the dark and are working with car manufacturer Toyota to develop safety features in their car models based on nocturnal vision.

“There’s a lot to be learned from nocturnally active dung beetles that live in cow dung,” said Warrant. Beetles, bees and moths have compound eyes with multiple lenses that cooperate to create a single image in the animal’s eye.  Light-sensitive cells in the retina are able to exploit light, even in situations when the light is weak. These cells cooperate in a way that renders the function of the retina flexible, to register details of a flower and monitor the terrain for movements in the darkness for example.

Warrant and Toyota hope to use this model of night vision for digital image creation in an entirely new type of night camera.  They have converted the night vision of insects into mathematical algorithms with the help of Henrik Malm, a mathematical researcher, and Magnus Oskarsson, senior lecturer in mathematics from Lund University.

Malm said: “The algorithms we devised imitate the eye’s method for enhancing visual perception in dim light.”

The night colour camera, which aims to help people drive cars more safely when it’s dark outside, is being tested at Toyota’s developmental facility in Brussels.