Paleoinspired Vision: From Exploring Colour Vision Evolution to Inspiring Camera Design

The evolution of colour vision is captivating, as it reveals the adaptive strategies of extinct species while simulta- neously inspiring innovations in modern imaging technol- ogy. In this study, we present a simplified model of vi- sual transduction in the retina, introducing a novel opsin layer. We quantify evolutionary pressures by measuring ma- chine vision recognition accuracy on colour images shaped by specific opsins. Building on this, we develop an evolu- tionary conservation optimisation algorithm to reconstruct the spectral sensitivity of opsins, enabling mutation-driven adaptations to to more effectively spot fruits or predators. This model condenses millions of years of evolution within seconds on GPU, providing an experimental framework to test long-standing hypotheses in evolutionary biology , such as vision of early mammals, primate trichromacy from gene duplication, retention of colour blindness, blue-shift of fish rod and multiple rod opsins with bioluminescence. More- over, the model enables speculative explorations of hypo- thetical species, such as organisms with eyes adapted to the conditions on Mars. Our findings suggest a minimalist yet effective approach to task-specific camera filter design, op- timising the spectral response function to meet application- driven demands. The code will be made publicly available upon acceptance.