Application of Virtual Reality in the Behavior Analysis of Laboratory Animal

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology for computer scene simulation that has become a reliable tool for animal behavior analysis in recent years. The behavior of an animal is crucial for its survival. Animal behavior analysis provides useful information for scientific progress in genetics, ecology, neuroscience, economics, and robotics. Animal behavior analysis can be divided into open-loop studies, in which the stimulus is independent of the animal's response to the stimulus, and closed-loop studies, in which the stimulus is adjusted according to the real-time movement of the animal. In this paper, we have discussed the origin, concept, and applications of animal behavior analysis, and reviewed the shortcomings of open-loop research on animal behavior represented by visual stimulation using traditional technology. Then taking visual, olfactory, tactile, and auditory stimulation as examples, we analyzed that the animal behavior analysis system using VR technology could combine precise experimental control with the complex behavior of laboratory animals, and complete the closed-loop research that could not be achieved using the experimental methods of the real physical world. The prospect of VR in developing superior simulations and virtual animals in the future was also discussed.

Keywords

• virtual reality
• open-loop control system
• closed-loop control system
• animal behavior
• virtual animals