Have you ever wondered how some animals see things through their own eyes? Well, now you don’t have to. Researchers from the University of Queensland and the University of Exeter developed software that allows humans to see the world through the eyes of animals. Now, you can see what a fish sees as he swims around the coral in the sea, or a honeybee flying through the field of flowers.
The software converts digital photos to animal vision, which makes it a handy tool when studying animals or plants. It can be useful when studying animal and plant signaling, to analyze colors and patterns, camouflage and animal predation, and to measure colors accurately and objectively. The researchers published details on the software in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Jolyon Troscianko from the University of Exeter explained:
Digital cameras are powerful tools for measuring colors and patterns in nature, but until now, it has been surprisingly difficult to use digital photos to make accurate and reliable measurements of color. Our software allows us to calibrate images and convert them to animal vision so that we can measure how the scene might look to humans and non-humans alike.
The Sensory Ecology group has already used the software in a wide range of studies. For example, the group used it to check color changes in green shore crabs, tracking face color change in women’s faces through their ovulation cycle and determining the aspects of camouflage that keep nightjar clutches safe from getting spotted by predators.
Troscianko said:
Viewing the world through the eyes of another animal has now become much easier thanks to our new software. We hope that other scientists will use this open access software to help with their digital image analysis.
This freely-available, open-source software is user-friendly. It enables researchers to easily calibrate their images, convert to animal color spaces, incorporate multiple layers, and to measure pictures. Previously, researchers had to do all of these tasks manually, along with some complex programming and calculations.
Color vision varies across the animal kingdom, and even within a given species. Most mammals have eyes sensitive to only blue and yellow, while most humans and old-world monkeys are sensitive to red, green, and yellow. Birds, reptiles, amphibians, and many insects have the most vivid vision, as they see in four or more colors. Many of the species can also see into the ultraviolet range, which is entirely invisible to humans without using a full-spectrum camera.
Therefore, to fully understand how these animals view the world, scientists need to measure the UV. This software allows them to do that by combining one photo taken through a visible-pass filter, and another through an ultraviolet-pass filter, using a camera converted to full-spectrum sensitivity. Then, the software generates functions to reveal the image through an animal’s eyes.
Additionally, specific data on commonly studied animals, such as humans, honey bees, fish, ferrets, peafowl, and blue tits, are provided on the camera’s settings.
UV is an essential color range in some species lives. Birds, insects, and reptiles use UV in colorful sexual displays when they attract mates. Flowers look incredible in UV because they are signaling to attract pollinators, such as bees, that can see in UV.
This amazing software is easy-to-use, and it’s free to download. Whether or not you’re a scientist, it’s still a fun and interesting program if you want to see how animals see you through their own eyes.
