The fly vision algorithm is based obviously on the eyes of flies: "A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells which distinguish brightness and color. The image perceived by the arthropod is a combination of inputs from the numerous ommatidia, which are oriented to point in slightly different directions. Compared with single-aperture eyes, compound eyes have poor image resolution; however, they possess a very large view angle and the ability to detect fast movement."

The visualization code takes an image from a single lens webcam, and processes it to emulate the ommatidia. Arranged in a hexagonal grid, which is an optimal packing reached by evolution, each cell has a wide angle, with overlapping edges repeating parts of the image and enhancing the drama of moving objects. The colour of the cells are modified according to the volume levels of three frequency bands of audio (bass, mids, treble). Over time the size of the cells are modulated, zooming disconcertingly.

Moreover, Ommatidia is based on the theory of Atomic Vision developed by the Surrealist painter Salvador Dali, who, influenced by the science of particle physics, contributed to link art and science through showing the discontinuity of matter at a sub-atomic level. As an example, we refer to “The Hallucinogenic Toreador”, and we present our Ommatidia work as continuation of this and other work - optical illusions and hypnotics forms - appearing throughout the history of art.