Wireless focal planes 'On the road to amacronic sensors'

Progress in microoptic technology and concepts that blend epitaxial layers of analog circuitry, microoptics, microlaser arrays, and detector arrays with neural retinal designs are discussed. The sensor developments that can lead to tightly coupled and adaptive focal plane arrays are reviewed. Characteristic amacrine functions, such as motion detection, edge enhancement, and space-variant dynamic range compression, are outlined. It is shown that, with optically cross-linked detector arrays, competitive nonlinear center-surround designs that form the basis of biological amacrine functions can bridge the image processing chasm that previous technologies have failed to bridge.< >