Modeling Insect Compound Eyes: Space-Variant Spherical Vision

Abstract

Insect compound eyes are highly optimized for the visual acquisition of behaviorally relevant information from the environment. Typical sampling and filtering properties include a spherical field of view, a singular viewpoint, low image resolution, overlapping Gaussian-shaped receptive fields, and a space-variant receptor distribution. I present an accurate and efficient compound eye simulation model capable of reconstructing an insect’s view of highly realistic virtual environments. The algorithm generates low resolution spherical images from multiple perspective views which can be produced at high frame rates by current computer graphics technology. The sensitivity distribution of each receptor unit is projected on the planar views to compensate for perspective distortions. Applications of this approach can be envisioned for both modeling visual information processing in insects and for the development of novel, biomimetic vision systems.