New Camera Innovation Enables Seeing the World Through Animals' Eyes

A novel camera system that can emulate the color perception of various creatures has been devised by a team of researchers. This equipment mitigates the drawbacks of traditional techniques like spectrophotometry by utilizing a multi-channel method that accurately records and exhibits colors as they appear to animals in natural environments. (Concept rendered by an artist.) Credit goes to SciTechDaily.com

This new open-source camera and software system can document wildlife videos with a remarkable accuracy of over 90%, preserving the natural colors as perceived by animals.

Ecologists and filmmakers can now generate videos that reproduce the natural colors different animals see, thanks to a new system developed by Vera Vasas from the University of Sussex, UK, and her associates from the Hanley Color Lab at George Mason University, US. The study was reported in the open-access journal PLOS Biology on January 23.

The perception of color varies among animals due to the specific characteristics of their eye photoreceptors. Creatures like honeybees and certain birds can even perceive UV light, which falls outside of human perception. By recreating the actual colors seen by animals, we can gain deeper insights into their communication and navigation. Conventional techniques such as spectrophotometry, while capable of portraying false color images, are often time-consuming and ineffective in capturing moving images due to their stringent lighting requirements.

Vasas and her team (2024) have introduced a new camera system and software that assist researchers and filmmakers in capturing and reproducing videos as seen by animals. An exemplar depiction includes a frame of three male orange sulfurs Colias eurytheme. Credit goes to Daniel Hanley (CC BY 4.0)

Researchers tackled these issues by devising an innovative camera and software system that capture moving objects as seen by animals under natural illumination. The device records video in four color channels: blue, green, red, and UV. This footage is then converted into “perceptual units” to create a video that accurately portrays the colors as seen by animals, utilizing existing knowledge about their photoreceptors. When contrasted with the conventional spectrophotometry method, the new system was found to predict color perception with a remarkable accuracy of more than 92%.

Authors state that this innovative camera system will herald new research opportunities for scientists, and empower filmmakers to create precise, dynamic imageries of how animals perceive their surroundings. Commercially available cameras are used to construct the system, housed in a modular, 3D-printed casing, and the open-source software invites other researchers to utilize and build upon this technological advancement.

Daniel Hanley, the senior author of the project, further highlights the thrilling aspect of animal perception, stating, “We’ve always been intrigued by how animals perceive the world. Modern techniques in sensory ecology enable us to deduce how static scenes might be viewed by an animal. However, animals tend to make crucial decisions based on moving targets, such as identifying food or assessing a potential mate’s display. With this in mind, we have developed hardware and software tools for ecologists and filmmakers that can capture and depict the colors in motion as perceived by animals."