Researchers have developed little devices that see and remember in the same manner that people do, in a promising step towards one day having apps that can make quick, complicated judgements, such as self-driving automobiles. The neuromorphic device is a single chip powered by a doped indium oxide sensing element hundreds of times thinner than a human hair and requires no additional parts to function. RMIT University engineers in Australia led the work, with contributions from researchers at Deakin University and the University of Melbourne. The team’s research demonstrates a working device that captures, processes and stores visual information. With precise engineering of the doped indium oxide, the device mimics a human eye’s ability to capture light, pre-packages and transmits information like an optical nerve, and stores and classifies it in a memory system like the way our brains can. Collectively, these functions could enable ultra-fast decision making, the team says. Team leader Professor Sumeet Walia said the new device can perform all necessary functions – sensing, creating and processing information, and retaining memories – rather than relying on external energy-intensive computation, which prevents real-time decision making.