Scientists Are Putting The World's Smallest 3D-Glasses On Praying Mantises To Improve Robotics

Images via

In what feels like the beginning of a Cronenberg movie, a new research project at the Newscastle University Institute of Neuroscience is exploring how praying mantises process 3D vision in hopes of opening possibilities to create much simpler algorithms for programming 3D vision in robots and computers.

The project, which received £1M in funding through a grant called the Research Leadership Award by the Leverhulme Trust, includes the researchers, attaching a pair of the world's smallest 3D glasses to the insects using beeswax, and placing them in front of computer-generated images. This will help determine if praying mantises, known for their stereoscopic vision, can see moving objects in various depths, similar to humans. Dr. Vivek Nityananda, one of the researchers on this project, explained, "We can do this by fooling them into misjudging depth, in the same way that our brains are fooled when we watch a 3D movie."

The data from the behavioral observations and electrophysiological recordings will be implemented to model neural algorithms that could possibly integrated into technology such as robotics, while also researching 3D vision in the natural world.

Dr. Jenny Read, the team leader, also added, "Despite their minute brains, mantises are sophisticated visual hunters… We can learn a lot by studying how they perceive the world."

Well even if praying mantises don't end up improving the visual capabilities of robots, it's tough to deny how badass the creatures look in these mini-shades. Imagine a future where robots have stereoscopic vision, based on the biological make-up of praying mantises (which are notorious for their brutal hunting and eating habits). We're a little nervous, to say the least and have to ask: Did Jeff Goldblum have anything to do with this project? See a video documenting the project below, as well as some images of the mantises:

For more on this project see Newcastle University project page.

Related: 

Art's Mad Scientist Creates Jellyfish Drones And GPS-Enhanced Insects

Electronic Insects—If William S. Burroughs Did Cyberpunk

Artist Hatches Steampunk Insects Wearing Mechanical Gears

h/t Gizmodo

@zachsokol