Breakthroughs in the field of object recognition facilitate ubiquitous applications in the modern world, ranging from security and surveillance equipment to accessibility devices for the visually impaired. Recently-emerged optical computing provides a fundamentally new computing modality to accelerate its solution with photons; however, it still necessitates digital processing for in situ application, inextricably tied to Moore's law. Here, from an entirely optical perspective, we introduce the concept of neuro-metamaterials that can be applied to realize a dynamic object- recognition system. The neuro-metamaterials are fabricated from inhomogeneous metamaterials or transmission metasurfaces, and optimized using, such as topology optimization and deep learning. We demonstrate the concept in experiments where living rabbits play freely in front of the neuro-metamaterials, which enable to perceive in light speed the rabbits' representative postures. Furthermore, we show how this capability enables a new physical mechanism for creating dynamic optical mirages, through which a sequence of rabbit movements is converted into a holographic video of a different animal. Our work provides deep insight into how metamaterials could facilitate a myriad of in situ applications, such as illusive cloaking and speed-of-light information display, processing, and encryption, possibly ushering in an "Optical Internet of Things" era.
© 2022. The Author(s).