Vasas et al. (2024) unveil a new camera system and software package that allows researchers and filmmakers to capture and display videos showing animals. This image of three male orange sulfurs Eurythema Colias is an example of such a representation. Credit: Daniel Hanley (CC BY 4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
A new camera system allows ecologists and filmmakers to produce videos that accurately reproduce the colors that different animals see in natural environments, report Vera Vasas of the University of Sussex, UK, and colleagues at Hanley Color Lab at George Mason University, USA. the open access journal Biology PLOS.
Different animals perceive the world differently due to the capabilities of the photoreceptors in their eyes. For example, animals like bees and some birds can see UV light, which is outside the range of human perception.
Reconstructing the colors that animals actually see can help scientists better understand how they communicate and navigate the world around them. False-color images give us a glimpse into this dynamic world, but traditional methods such as spectrophotometry are often time-consuming, require specific lighting conditions, and cannot capture moving images.
To address these limitations, researchers developed a new camera and software system that captures video of moving animals under natural lighting conditions.
The camera simultaneously records video in four color channels: blue, green, red and UV. This data can be processed into “perceptual units” to produce an accurate video of how these colors are perceived by animals, based on existing knowledge about the photoreceptors in their eyes.
The team tested the system against a traditional method using spectrophotometry and found that the new system predicted perceived colors with more than 92% accuracy.
This new camera system will open new avenues of research for scientists and allow filmmakers to produce dynamic and accurate depictions of how animals perceive the world around them, the authors say. The system is built from commercially available cameras housed in a 3D printed modular housing, and the software is available as open source, allowing other researchers to use and build on the technology at hand. ‘future.
Lead author Daniel Hanley adds: “We have long been fascinated by how animals see the world. Modern techniques in sensory ecology allow us to deduce how static scenes can appear to an animal; however, animals often make crucial decisions regarding moving targets (for example). , detect food, evaluate the display of a potential partner, etc.).”
“Here we present hardware and software tools for ecologists and filmmakers that can capture and display the moving colors seen by animals.”
More information:
Vasas V, Lowell MC, Villa J, Jamison QD, Siegle AG, Katta PKR et al. (2024) Recording videos of animals in the natural world using a new camera system and software package, PLoS Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002444
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