Familiarity with images affects how dogs (Canis familiaris) process life-size video projections of humans

A central problem of behavioural studies providing artificial visual stimuli for non-human animals is to determine how subjects perceive and process these stimuli. Especially in the case of videos, it is important to ascertain that animals perceive the actual content of the images and are not just reacting to the motion cues in the presentation. In this study, we set out to investigate how dogs process life-sized videos. We aimed to find out whether dogs perceive the actual content of video images or whether they only react to the videos as a set of dynamic visual elements. For this purpose, dogs were presented with an object search task where a life-sized projected human was hiding a target object. The videos were either normally oriented or displayed upside down, and we analysed dogs’ reactions towards the projector screen after the video presentations, and their performance in the search task. Results indicated that in the case of the normally oriented videos, dogs spontaneously perceived the actual content of the images. However, the ‘Inverted’ videos were first processed as a set of unrelated visual elements, and only after some exposure to these videos did the dogs show signs of perceiving the unusual configuration of the depicted scene. Our most important conclusion was that dogs process the same type of artificial visual stimuli in different ways, depending on the familiarity of the depicted scene, and that the processing mode can change with exposure to unfamiliar stimuli.

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Adding colour-realistic video images to audio playbacks increases stimulus engagement but does not enhance vocal learning in zebra finches

Animal Cognition ◽

10.1007/s10071-021-01547-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Judith M. Varkevisser ◽

Ralph Simon ◽

Ezequiel Mendoza ◽

Martin How ◽

Idse van Hijlkema ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Visual Cues ◽

Sound Production ◽

Visual Stimuli ◽

Vocal Learning ◽

Song Learning ◽

Frame Rate ◽

Zebra Finches ◽

Video Content ◽

Biologically Relevant ◽

Video Images

AbstractBird song and human speech are learned early in life and for both cases engagement with live social tutors generally leads to better learning outcomes than passive audio-only exposure. Real-world tutor–tutee relations are normally not uni- but multimodal and observations suggest that visual cues related to sound production might enhance vocal learning. We tested this hypothesis by pairing appropriate, colour-realistic, high frame-rate videos of a singing adult male zebra finch tutor with song playbacks and presenting these stimuli to juvenile zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Juveniles exposed to song playbacks combined with video presentation of a singing bird approached the stimulus more often and spent more time close to it than juveniles exposed to audio playback only or audio playback combined with pixelated and time-reversed videos. However, higher engagement with the realistic audio–visual stimuli was not predictive of better song learning. Thus, although multimodality increased stimulus engagement and biologically relevant video content was more salient than colour and movement equivalent videos, the higher engagement with the realistic audio–visual stimuli did not lead to enhanced vocal learning. Whether the lack of three-dimensionality of a video tutor and/or the lack of meaningful social interaction make them less suitable for facilitating song learning than audio–visual exposure to a live tutor remains to be tested.

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Maternal Docosahexaenoic Acid Intake Levels During Pregnancy and Infant Performance on a Novel Object Search Task at 22 Months

Child Development ◽

10.1111/cdev.12280 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. n/a-n/a ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alison Rees ◽

Sylvain Sirois ◽

Alison Wearden

Keyword(s):

Docosahexaenoic Acid ◽

Search Task ◽

Novel Object ◽

Acid Intake ◽

Object Search

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422 Digital Video Images and Their Use in Extension Programs

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.34.3.517b ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 517B-517

Author(s):

Charles Marr

Keyword(s):

Digital Video ◽

Digital Images ◽

Web Pages ◽

Mass Storage ◽

Extension Programs ◽

Video Clips ◽

Visual Elements ◽

Video Images ◽

Short Video ◽

Distant Location

Digital images are becoming an essential part of computer “slide” presentations, identification of plants and problems from a distant location, and adding visual elements to Web pages. The use of digital video images allows capturing of single frames for individual or sequence photographs as well as “mass” storage of digital images. There are also some uses of short “video clips” to be included in slide or Web presentations. A discussion of digital image quality and demonstration of equipment used will be included in the presentation.

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Attentional bias towards threatening visual stimuli in a virtual reality-based visual search task

Acta Psychologica Sinica ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1041.2018.00622 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 50 (6) ◽

pp. 622 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Visual Search ◽

Attentional Bias ◽

Search Task ◽

Visual Search Task ◽

Visual Stimuli

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Online Planning for Target Object Search in Clutter under Partial Observability

2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) ◽

10.1109/icra.2019.8793494 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Yuchen Xiao ◽

Sammie Katt ◽

Andreas ten Pas ◽

Shengjian Chen ◽

Christopher Amato

Keyword(s):

Target Object ◽

Partial Observability ◽

Online Planning ◽

Object Search

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Properties of Saccadic Responses in Monkey When Multiple Competing Visual Stimuli Are Present

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00818.2003 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 91 (2) ◽

pp. 890-900 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Kuniharu Arai ◽

Robert M. McPeek ◽

Edward L. Keller

Keyword(s):

Search Task ◽

Target Selection ◽

Visual Stimuli ◽

Experimental Manipulation ◽

Movement Trajectory ◽

Movement Trajectories ◽

Neural Organization ◽

Single Target ◽

Stereotyped Movement ◽

Saccadic Responses

Important insights into the neural organization of the saccadic system have been gained when the usually stereotyped movement trajectories of saccades have been altered by experimental manipulation. In the present study we produced trajectory variability in monkeys by using a visual search task in which both the location and color of an odd-colored target were changed randomly trial by trial, and the number of distractors was varied on each trial. We wished to determine whether increasing the number of distractors also increased the movement trajectory variation, i.e., the amount of initial directional deviation, endpoint deviation (averaging), and curvature of saccades. Overall, saccade latencies and the proportion of saccades directed to distractors decreased as the number of homogenous distractors increased. We also found that saccades have much more dispersion in their initial direction when distractors are present in comparison to the case when only a single target without distractors appears. However, initial dispersion decreases systematically as the number of distractors increases. The percentage of averaging saccades produced in the search task was not consistently dependent on the number of distractors. A significant fraction of averaging saccades still occurred for much wider spatial separations of stimuli than in previous studies using two visual stimuli with no specified target. The curvature of saccade trajectories increased dramatically when distractors were present, but the amount of curvature was not systematically affected by the number of distractors. Errors present in saccade trajectory in the search task were only poorly compensated. We conclude that these variable saccade trajectories result from incomplete or inaccurate specification of the target when competing stimuli are present and that a smaller number of more widely spread distractors facilitate saccade variability, perhaps due to the greater difficulty of target selection.

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Target Tracking Based on Improved Camshift and Kalman Filter

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.989-994.3587 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 989-994 ◽

pp. 3587-3590

Author(s):

Li Ying Ban ◽

Yue Hua Han ◽

Yan Hai Wu

Keyword(s):

Kalman Filter ◽

Target Tracking ◽

Target Object ◽

Tracking Algorithm ◽

Color Target ◽

Motion Cues ◽

Target Model ◽

Camshift Algorithm ◽

Novel Target

A tracking algorithm based on improved Camshift and Kalman filter is proposed in this paper to deal with the problems in traditional Camshift algorithm, such as tracking failure under color interference or occlusion. Firstly, the proposed algorithm improves the single color target model and presents a novel target model, which fuses color and motion cues, to enhance the robustness and accuracy of target tracking. And in order to increase the tracking efficiency, the algorithm combines Kalman filter with the improved Camshift algorithm by using Kalman filter to predict the position of the tracking target under color noises and occlusion. The experiment results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can track the target object accurately and has better robustness.

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Exploring How White-Faced Sakis Control Digital Visual Enrichment Systems

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11020557 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 557

Author(s):

Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas ◽

Vilma Kankaanpää

Keyword(s):

Visual Stimuli ◽

Research Community ◽

Abstract Art ◽

Confounding Factors ◽

Bell Curve ◽

Visual Elements ◽

Open Question ◽

Over Time

Computer-enabled screen systems containing visual elements have long been employed with captive primates for assessing preference, reactions and for husbandry reasons. These screen systems typically play visual enrichment to primates without them choosing to trigger the system and without their consent. Yet, what videos primates, especially monkeys, would prefer to watch of their own volition and how to design computers and methods that allow choice is an open question. In this study, we designed and tested, over several weeks, an enrichment system that facilitates white-faced saki monkeys to trigger different visual stimuli in their regular zoo habitat while automatically logging and recording their interaction. By analysing this data, we show that the sakis triggered underwater and worm videos over the forest, abstract art, and animal videos, and a control condition of no-stimuli. We also note that the sakis used the device significantly less when playing animal videos compared to other conditions. Yet, plotting the data over time revealed an engagement bell curve suggesting confounding factors of novelty and habituation. As such, it is unknown if the stimuli or device usage curve caused the changes in the sakis interactions over time. Looking at the sakis’ behaviours and working with zoo personnel, we noted that the stimuli conditions resulted in significantly decreasing the sakis’ scratching behaviour. For the research community, this study builds on methods that allow animals to control computers in a zoo environment highlighting problems in quantifying animal interactions with computer devices.

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