Business Daily Media

Men's Weekly

.

PolyU develops advanced vision sensors that emulate human visual adaptability

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 31 May 2022 - Future autonomous vehicles and industrial cameras might have human-like vision, thanks to a recent advance by scientists from Hong Kong and South Korea.

Researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Yonsei University in Seoul have developed vision sensors that emulate and even surpass the human retina's ability to adapt to various lighting levels.

poly4.jpg
The bioinspired vision sensors developed by Dr Chai's team can adapt to varying brightness with an effective range of up to 199 dB. The human retina can adapt to environments under sunlight to starlight, with a range of about 160 dB.

"The new sensors will greatly improve machine vision systems used for visual analysis and identification tasks," says Dr CHAI Yang, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Physics, and Assistant Dean (Research), Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, PolyU, who led the research.

Machine vision systems are cameras and computers that capture and process images for tasks such as facial recognition. They need to be able to "see" objects in a wide range of lighting conditions, which demands intricate circuitry and complex algorithms. Such systems are rarely efficient enough to process a large volume of visual information in real time—unlike the human brain.

The new bioinspired sensors developed by Dr Chai's team may offer a solution through directly adapting different light intensities by the sensors, instead of relying on backend computation. The human eye adapts to different levels of illumination, from very dark to very bright and vice versa, which allows us to identify objects accurately under a range of lighting conditions. The new sensors aim to mimic this adaptability.

"The human pupil may help adjust the amount of light entering the eye," explains Dr Chai, "but the main adaptation to brightness is performed by retina cells." Natural light intensity spans a large range, 280 dB. Impressively, the new sensors developed by Dr Chai's team have an effective range of up to 199 dB, compared with only 70 dB for conventional silicon-based sensors. The human retina can adapt to environments under sunlight to starlight, with a range of about 160 dB.

To achieve this, the research team developed light detectors, called phototransistors, using a dual layer of atomic-level ultrathin molybdenum disulphide, a semiconductor with unique electrical and optical properties. The researchers then introduced "charge trap states"—impurities or imperfections in a solid's crystalline structure that restrict the movement of charge—to the dual layer.

"These trap states enable the storage of light information," report the researchers, "and dynamically modulate the optoelectronic properties of the device at the pixel level." By controlling the movement of electrons, the trap states enabled the researchers to precisely adjust the amount of electricity conducted by the phototransistors. This in turn allowed them to control the device's photosensitivity, or its ability to detect light.

Each of the new vision sensors is made up of arrays of such phototransistors. They mimic the rod and cone cells of the human eye, which are respectively responsible for detecting dim and bright light. As a result, the sensors can detect objects in differently lit environments as well as switch between, and adapt to, varying levels of brightness—with an even greater range than the human eye.

"The sensors reduce hardware complexity and greatly increase the image contrast under different lighting conditions," says Dr Chai, "thus delivering high image recognition efficiency."

These novel bioinspired sensors could usher in the next generation of artificial-vision systems used in autonomous vehicles and manufacturing, as well as finding exciting new applications in edge computing and the Internet of Things.

The research was published in Nature Electronics.

#PolyU


News from Asia

Cushman & Wakefield and Corenet Global Release New Survey Results On "What Occupiers Want"

Cost remains king, but talent, flexibility, and service are reshaping real estate strategy globally HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 2 July 2025 - Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK), in ...

Chubb Life Hong Kong Launches Chubb 1792 Club: A New Era in Tailored Wealth Management Services

With a legacy of excellence, expertise, and a bold vision, Chubb Life HK is meeting rising demand for sophisticated, future-focused financial planning through bespoke legacy and wealth solutions HO...

Octa broker's take on the upcoming NFP report

KUALA LUMPUR - Media OutReach Newswire - 2 July 2025 - This Thursday at 12:30 p.m. UTC, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its highly anticipated Nonfarm Payroll (NFP) report...

OneMagnify India earns Best Place to Work certification for the fourth consecutive year

CHENNAI, INDIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 2 July 2025 - OneMagnify, a global leader in marketing, data, and technology solutions, has once again been recognized as a Best Place to Work in India ...

BeauEver Secures NZ Prime Minister’s Support in Historic China Summit to Accelerate Global Skincare Expansion

SHANGHAI, CHINA - Media OutReach Newswire - 2 July 2025 - At the 2025 China–New Zealand Trade Innovation Summit, New Zealand Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Christopher Luxon, witnessed the officia...

Central Europe Technologies recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Romania for 2025

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 2 July 2025 – Central Europe Technologies has been officially recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Romania for 2025. Central Europe Techno...

CDNetworks Selected as Strategic Partner by Petrolimex Aviation to Bolster Cybersecurity with AI-Powered Cloud Platform

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach Newswire - 3 July 2025 - CDNetworks, the APAC-leading network to deliver edge as a service, today announced that Petrolimex Aviation, a major provider of aviation fuel...

Trade Crypto Without Purchasing It: Octa Broker About Crypto-CFDs

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 3 July 2025 - Crypto volatility poses both potentially spectacular possibilities and enormous risks. For example, by investing in crypto assets o...

Tia Lee Graces the Cover of ELLE Malaysia: A Journey of Empowerment, Evolution, and Expression

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 3 July 2025 - Global fashion and music icon Tia Lee (Lee Yu Fen) takes center stage on the cover of ELLE Malaysia, where she reflects on her multifaceted ...

Porsche Design Tower Bangkok Offers a Culinary Voyage into Iconic Living

STUTTGART, GERMANY / HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 25 June 2025 - Porsche Design Tower Bangkok hosted an exclusive dinner event in a private estate villa in Hong Kong, offering esteeme...

Beyond borders: Building a scalable strategy for international hiring

For many Australian businesses, growth increasingly depends on thinking beyond local borders.  As wage pressures rise, and specialised talent pool...

The Next Generation of Maritime Sustainable Solutions

As organizations globally seek innovative ways to improve sustainability and their impact on Earth, the American Waterways Operators (AWO), a lead...

Demand for Home Batteries surges as Federal Rebate Kicks In

A leading provider of energy solutions VoltX Energy has seen a 400% increase in demand for home batteries in the past three weeks as people put d...

Why Sport Remains the Safest Bet in an Uncertain World

When Rome was in crisis, its leaders did not retreat to the Senate. They went to the circus. To the chariot races. To the gladiators. Sport was no...

THE FINE LINE WITHIN HILARIOUS SIGNAGE DESIGN FAILS

It seems like design failures still occur in today’s modern branding era, despite rigorous rounds of approvals behind the scenes. One signage show...

Deputy Announces Exclusive Global Partnership with Predelo to Bring AI to Shift-Based Businesses

Deputy, the global people platform for shift-based businesses, has announced an exclusive partnership with Predelo, an AI Decision Agent-as-a-Serv...

Sell by LayBy