A new cam system, capable of duplicating how various animals perceive colors, has been established by scientists. Credit: SciTechDaily.comOpen-source cam and software system records natural animal-view videos with over 90% accuracy.A brand-new electronic camera system allows ecologists and filmmakers to produce videos that precisely duplicate the colors that various animals see in natural settings, Vera Vasas at the University of Sussex, UK, and associates from the Hanley Color Lab at George Mason University, US, report on January 23 in the open gain access to journal PLOS Biology.Understanding Animal PerceptionDifferent animals perceive the world differently due to the fact that of the capabilities of the photoreceptors in their eyes. Modern methods in sensory ecology allow us to presume how static scenes might appear to an animal; nevertheless, animals typically make important decisions on moving targets (e.g., spotting food products, assessing a prospective mates screen, etc) Here, we present hardware and software application tools for ecologists and filmmakers that can record and show animal-perceived colors in movement.
A new video camera system, capable of reproducing how different animals view colors, has been developed by researchers. This system overcomes the restrictions of traditional methods like spectrophotometry by using a multi-channel technique to precisely catch and show animal-perceived colors under natural conditions. (Artists idea.) Credit: SciTechDaily.comOpen-source cam and software application system records natural animal-view videos with over 90% accuracy.A new camera system enables ecologists and filmmakers to produce videos that accurately replicate the colors that different animals see in natural settings, Vera Vasas at the University of Sussex, UK, and colleagues from the Hanley Color Lab at George Mason University, United States, report on January 23 in the open gain access to journal PLOS Biology.Understanding Animal PerceptionDifferent animals perceive the world differently since of the capabilities of the photoreceptors in their eyes. For instance, animals like honeybees and some birds can see UV light, which are outside the series of human perception. Rebuilding the colors that animals actually see can assist scientists much better comprehend how they navigate the world and interact around them. Incorrect color images offer us a glimpse into this vibrant world, but standard techniques such as spectrophotometry are often time-consuming, require specific lighting conditions, and can not record moving images.Vasas et al. (2024) reveal a new electronic camera system and software bundle that permits both scientists and filmmakers to capture and display animal-view videos. This picture of three male orange sulfurs Colias eurytheme is an example of one such depiction. Credit: Daniel Hanley (CC BY 4.0) Technological Breakthrough in Animal-View ImagingTo address these constraints, researchers developed a novel video camera and software system that captures animal-view videos of moving things under natural lighting conditions. The video camera simultaneously tapes video in 4 color channels: blue, green, red, and UV. This data can be processed into “perceptual systems” to produce an accurate video of how those colors are viewed by animals, based on existing knowledge of the photoreceptors in their eyes. The group checked the system versus a standard approach that utilizes spectrophotometry and found that the new system forecasted perceived colors with a precision of over 92%. Impact and Accessibility of the New SystemThis unique electronic camera system will open brand-new avenues of research for scientists, and enable filmmakers to produce vibrant, precise representations of how animals see the world around them, the authors state. The system is developed from commercially readily available cameras, housed in a modular, 3D-printed housing, and the software application is readily available open-source, enabling other scientists to use and build on the innovation in the future.Senior author Daniel Hanley adds, “Weve long been amazed by how animals see the world. Modern strategies in sensory ecology enable us to presume how static scenes may appear to an animal; however, animals often make crucial choices on moving targets (e.g., spotting food items, assessing a prospective mates screen, and so on) Here, we present hardware and software application tools for ecologists and filmmakers that can record and display animal-perceived colors in movement.” Reference: “Recording animal-view videos of the natural world using a novel electronic camera system and software plan” by Vera Vasas, Mark C. Lowell, Juliana Villa, Quentin D. Jamison, Anna G. Siegle, Pavan Kumar Reddy Katta, Pushyami Bhagavathula, Peter G. Kevan, Drew Fulton, Neil Losin, David Kepplinger, Michael K. Yetzbacher, Shakiba Salehian, Rebecca E. Forkner and Daniel Hanley, 23 January 2024, PLOS Biology.DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pbio.3002444.