Multi-target positioning and motion tracking enabled by a compound meta-eye system

Accurate perception of spatial position is essential for both biological vision and intelligent unmanned systems. Existing radio-based positioning approaches are susceptible to interference and require bulky infrastructures, while optical systems often trade accuracy for compactness. Here, we present a compound meta-eye system (CMES) that integrates an array of metalens sub-eyes to capture angular parallax from multiple targets simultaneously. Each sub-eye focuses light onto a detector to form arrayed images, from which a global-ratio algorithm reconstructs spatial coordinates with high precision. The CMES enables multi-target positioning and motion tracking within a meter-scale range, achieving a relative depth error below 2% and trajectory-fitting deviations under 0.5 mm. The metalens design provides diffraction-limited focusing and wide angular tolerance, combining biological compound eye compactness with flat meta-optics. This compact optical-perception platform offers an efficient solution for real-time multi-target spatial perception, with potential applications in formation control, visual navigation, and environmental perception for unmanned aerial vehicles and embodied intelligent agents.