Researchers develop framework for humans to see through the eyes of mals

All thanks to the innovative software framework developed by researchers, humans are now closer to seeing through the eyes of mals.

PhD candidate Cedric van den Berg from UQ's School of Biological Sciences said that, until now, it has been difficult to understand how mals really saw the world.

The study was published in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

"Most mals have completely different visual systems to humans, so - for many species - it is unclear how they see complex visual information or colour patterns in nature, and how this drives their behaviour," he said.

"The Quantitative Colour Pattern Analysis (QCPA) framework is a collection of innovative digital image processing techniques and analytical tools designed to solve this problem.

"Collectively, these tools greatly improve our ability to analyse complex visual information through the eyes of mals."

Dr Jolyon Troscianko the study's co-leader from the University of Exeter said colour patterns have been key to understanding many fundamental evolutionary problems, such as how mals signal to each other or hide from predators.

"We have known for many years that understanding mal vision and signalling depends on combining colour and pattern information, but the available techniques were near impossible to implement without some key advances we developed for this framework."

The framework's use of digital photos means it can be used in almost any habitat - even underwater - using anything from off-the-shelf cameras to sophisticated full-spectrum imaging systems.

"You can even access most of its capabilities by using a cheap (~ $110 AUD, £60 GBP, 80 USD) smartphone to capture photos," Dr Troscianko said.

It took four years to develop and test the technology, which included the development of an extensive interactive online platform to provide researchers, teachers and students with user-guides, tutorials and worked examples of how to use the tools.

UQ's Dr Karen Cheney said the framework can be applied to a wide range of environmental conditions and visual systems.

"The flexibility of the framework allows researchers to investigate the colour patterns and natural surroundings of a wide range of orgsms, such as insects, birds, fish and flowering plants," she said.

"We're helping people - wherever they are - to cross the boundaries between human and mal visual perception."

"It's really a platform that anyone can build on, so we're keen to see what future breakthroughs are ahead."

( With inputs from ANI )