Kim An-mo, a professor of Hanyang University Department of Biomedical Engineering, recently discovered the principle of nerves in which the brain automatically blocks unnecessary image signals and selects only necessary ones through multinational research. This study is expected to be used for real-time image processing such as autonomous drones in the future.

Cameras capture images just as they are, while our vision reinterprets the images formed in our eyes according to each situation. For example, when we open our eyes, our eyes move two to three times per second, similar to shaking a camera left and right on a dark night. In other words, every time our eyes move, things look blurry, but our brains do not recognize such blurry images at all. This is because our brain automatically blocks shaking images during the process of transmitting signals from the eyes to the brain.

Professor Kim's team found that the brains of a fruit fly also automatically block shaking images, just like our brains. When flying, fruit flies abruptly change direction two to three times a second and see blurry images like humans. The study was conducted based on this fact.

The research team placed a flying fruit fly under the microscope to see if the blurry image was blocked and measured the signals by attaching an electrode of a hundredth the size compared to hair thickness to its optic nerve cells. As a result, it was found that whenever the fruit fly makes a sudden turn during flight, motion signals are automatically blocked, and this is selectively done depending on the situation. 

The researchers found that if the fruit fly turned of its will due to an obstacle or a certain smell, it blocked the blurry signal but did not when it turned due to shaking from the wind. It is presumed that the signal is not blocked because each time the wind pushes a fruit fly during flight, the flight path must be modified to its original direction.

Professor Kim's team explained that this finding could be used to process images of cameras attached to AI robots as the robot's movement creates vibration, which affects camera images. Based on the research results, Professor Kim's research team plans to develop an algorithm that selectively processes shaking camera images and apply it to autonomous drones. The team's research is expected to be applicable to sensor signal processing by autonomous AI robots in the future.

"The image shaking problem is also true for robots such as autonomous drones," said Professor Kim. "I think this fruit fly research can be used for a new image processing algorithm for robots."

This research was published in Current Biology, October issue, an international sister journal of Cell. Also, the research was conducted in cooperation with Professor Gaby Maimon from the Rockefeller University in the United States and Professor Lisa Fenk from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT National Research Foundation of Korea's Basic Research Project and the Future Brain Convergence Technology Project.