Scientists from Newcastle University have invented the world’s smallest pair of 3D sunglasses! Woah woah woah… don’t go punching in credit card numbers just yet! This pair of sunglasses is not meant for the human eye… but for the eyes of a praying mantis. Because praying mantises do not have ears for sunglasses to latch on to, scientists used bees wax to hold the 3D sunglasses secure and tight to the face of the insect.
The praying mantis is the only known insect to be able to see in 3D. It is hoped that the 1 million dollar research program could give insight into 3D vision, which could provide cheaper and less technical versions of the technology. “If we find that the way mantises process 3D vision is very different to the way humans do it, then that could open up all kinds of possibilities to create much simpler algorithms for programming 3D vision into robots,” says Dr Vivek Nityananda, whom is very involved in the experiment.
The experiment determines if the insect can see a moving object standing out in depth similarly to the way that humans and monkeys see moving objects. In the study, the mantis watches a film – similar to modern day 3D films. The images that the insect sees are computer-generated flies within strike distance on 3D-enabled computer monitors. If the insect accurately pounces, it will show that it can process the images in the same way as humans, the scientists explained. It is possible, however, that mantises have independently evolved similar 3D processing to vertebrates. More conclusions are to come.