A team led by a South Korean scientist says it succeeded in developing digital cameras that use the principles of how an insect’s eye works.

The team led by Professor Song Young-min of the University of Illinois said the arthropod-inspired cameras with nearly full hemispherical shapes of roughly 160 degrees have the same structure and function of an insect’s eye.

The team said it developed image sensors that can be stretched and transformed them to hemispherical shapes to create a digital camera structure that resembles compound eyes of insects.

The team is aiming to apply the new camera to micro-miniature flying robots or endoscope cameras.

The team’s latest research was published on the international science journal, Nature, on Thursday.