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Ultra High Speed Optical Measurement Technology Developed
< (From left) Tae Jin Ha, CEO of VIRNECT, Kwang Hyung Lee, President of KAIST >
An open platform for industry-academia-research collaboration, which has accumulated K-Metaverse technology capabilities that break down the boundaries between reality and virtuality and share experiences beyond the limits of time and space, is expected to be built on our university campus.
Our university announced on the 13th that it’s signing an agreement for the establishment and operation of a 'Virtual Convergence Research Center' with the Graduate School of Metaverse and VIRNECT Co., Ltd. (CEO Tae Jin Ha), a domestic augmented/virtual reality (XR) specialized company and a startup founded by a KAIST alumnus.
The Virtual Convergence Research Center, which will be newly constructed on our university campus, plans to prepare for the future participation of related government-funded research institutes, and is expected to function as a national strategic hub that creates future growth engines for the Republic of Korea, going beyond simple industry-academia cooperation. VIRNECT Co., Ltd. plans to create the research center as an open research collaboration platform in which domestic and international industry, academia, and research institutes jointly participate with KAIST.
This research center is expected to experiment with the convergence of reality and virtuality and establish itself as a global hub for the 'K-Metaverse Innovation Ecosystem' where technology development, talent cultivation, and industrial diffusion are in a virtuous cycle.
VIRNECT Co., Ltd. was founded by KAIST alumnus Tae Jin Ha, listed on KOSDAQ in 2023, and won the CES Innovation Award for developing the industrial AI smart goggles 'VisionX'. It has grown into a representative domestic spatial computing company based on various industrial innovation technologies such as AI/XR solutions and digital twin. Synergistic co-prosperity with KAIST is anticipated through this collaboration.
Spatial computing and XR technology are areas where global big techs like Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung are engaged in fierce competition for dominance, paying attention to them as the next-generation AI platforms. With major countries such as the US and China investing enormous capital and capabilities, the launch of the KAIST Virtual Convergence Research Center is evaluated as a strategic response for South Korea not to fall behind in the competition of the post-metaverse era.
The research center plans to lead both industrial productivity and social innovation as an R&BD (Research & Business Development) hub that integrates core technologies such as digital twin, metaverse, spatial/physical intelligence, and wearable XR. Furthermore, it will quickly verify the applicability to industrial sites and support the creation of new industries through a full-cycle system covering education, research, demonstration, commercialization, and diffusion.
Moreover, the research center will create national synergy by being closely linked with government policies. Strengthening the link between education and research, fostering a sustainable metaverse ecosystem, and expanding global leadership through an open industry-academia-research platform align with the government's strategy for advancing the virtual convergence industry.
< Executives from both organizations attending the signing ceremony >
VIRNECT CEO Tae Jin Ha said, "The long-term cooperation with KAIST is a stepping stone for us to leap forward as a game-changer in the global XR industry," adding, "We will strengthen virtual convergence technology competitiveness through research and education infrastructure and accelerate commercialization through demonstration."
Professor Woontack Woo, Dean of the Graduate School of Metaverse, emphasized, "The Virtual Convergence Research Center will serve as an open platform where industry, academia, and research institutes jointly experiment with K-Metaverse innovation, and a 'Meta Power Plant' that cultivates future core personnel and disseminates research results to the industry."
KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee said, "This agreement is a strategic investment to secure global leadership by breaking down the boundaries between research and industry, going beyond simply creating a new research center," and "KAIST will spare no support for the research center."
With the future designation of the KAIST Virtual Convergence Research Center as a government-specialized graduate school/research center for the virtual convergence industry and increased industry cooperation, it will establish itself as a national innovation platform that concentrates South Korea's metaverse capabilities. This is expected to lead to the creation of new value for the future society and the strengthening of national competitiveness, going beyond simple technology development.
2025.10.13 View 2925 -
KAIST Develops Insect-Eye-Inspired Camera Capturing 9,120 Frames Per Second
< (From left) Bio and Brain Engineering PhD Student Jae-Myeong Kwon, Professor Ki-Hun Jeong, PhD Student Hyun-Kyung Kim, PhD Student Young-Gil Cha, and Professor Min H. Kim of the School of Computing >
The compound eyes of insects can detect fast-moving objects in parallel and, in low-light conditions, enhance sensitivity by integrating signals over time to determine motion. Inspired by these biological mechanisms, KAIST researchers have successfully developed a low-cost, high-speed camera that overcomes the limitations of frame rate and sensitivity faced by conventional high-speed cameras.
KAIST (represented by President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 16th of January that a research team led by Professors Ki-Hun Jeong (Department of Bio and Brain Engineering) and Min H. Kim (School of Computing) has developed a novel bio-inspired camera capable of ultra-high-speed imaging with high sensitivity by mimicking the visual structure of insect eyes.
High-quality imaging under high-speed and low-light conditions is a critical challenge in many applications. While conventional high-speed cameras excel in capturing fast motion, their sensitivity decreases as frame rates increase because the time available to collect light is reduced.
To address this issue, the research team adopted an approach similar to insect vision, utilizing multiple optical channels and temporal summation. Unlike traditional monocular camera systems, the bio-inspired camera employs a compound-eye-like structure that allows for the parallel acquisition of frames from different time intervals.
< Figure 1. (A) Vision in a fast-eyed insect. Reflected light from swiftly moving objects sequentially stimulates the photoreceptors along the individual optical channels called ommatidia, of which the visual signals are separately and parallelly processed via the lamina and medulla. Each neural response is temporally summed to enhance the visual signals. The parallel processing and temporal summation allow fast and low-light imaging in dim light. (B) High-speed and high-sensitivity microlens array camera (HS-MAC). A rolling shutter image sensor is utilized to simultaneously acquire multiple frames by channel division, and temporal summation is performed in parallel to realize high speed and sensitivity even in a low-light environment. In addition, the frame components of a single fragmented array image are stitched into a single blurred frame, which is subsequently deblurred by compressive image reconstruction. >
During this process, light is accumulated over overlapping time periods for each frame, increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. The researchers demonstrated that their bio-inspired camera could capture objects up to 40 times dimmer than those detectable by conventional high-speed cameras.
The team also introduced a "channel-splitting" technique to significantly enhance the camera's speed, achieving frame rates thousands of times faster than those supported by the image sensors used in packaging. Additionally, a "compressed image restoration" algorithm was employed to eliminate blur caused by frame integration and reconstruct sharp images.
The resulting bio-inspired camera is less than one millimeter thick and extremely compact, capable of capturing 9,120 frames per second while providing clear images in low-light conditions.
< Figure 2. A high-speed, high-sensitivity biomimetic camera packaged in an image sensor. It is made small enough to fit on a finger, with a thickness of less than 1 mm. >
The research team plans to extend this technology to develop advanced image processing algorithms for 3D imaging and super-resolution imaging, aiming for applications in biomedical imaging, mobile devices, and various other camera technologies.
Hyun-Kyung Kim, a doctoral student in the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST and the study's first author, stated, “We have experimentally validated that the insect-eye-inspired camera delivers outstanding performance in high-speed and low-light imaging despite its small size. This camera opens up possibilities for diverse applications in portable camera systems, security surveillance, and medical imaging.”
< Figure 3. Rotating plate and flame captured using the high-speed, high-sensitivity biomimetic camera. The rotating plate at 1,950 rpm was accurately captured at 9,120 fps. In addition, the pinch-off of the flame with a faint intensity of 880 µlux was accurately captured at 1,020 fps. >
This research was published in the international journal Science Advances in January 2025 (Paper Title: “Biologically-inspired microlens array camera for high-speed and high-sensitivity imaging”).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads3389
This study was supported by the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT) of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).
2025.01.16 View 16501