Computational imaging is undergoing a revolution. This is the discipline of making images using computational techniques rather than optical ones. Its best known breakthrough is the ability to record high resolution images and movies using a single pixel. But researchers have also used it to build lensless cameras, 3D imaging systems and more.

Today, they take the technique even further by using it to mimic the way humans see the world. David Phillips at the University of Glasgow and a few pals say they’ve found a way to use a single pixel to create images in which the central area is recorded in high resolution while the periphery is recorded in low resolution.  That exactly mimics animal vision systems in which the retina has a central region of high visual acuity called the fovea surrounded by an area of lower resolution.

The team have even shown how to move the “foveated” region to follow objects within the field of view. The technique has the potential to change the way many imaging systems work in future.