FreemoVR — virtual reality for freely moving animals

FreemoVR combines low-latency 3D animal tracking with perspective-correct visual projection to create immersive, closed-loop virtual reality for unrestrained animals. The system lets researchers manipulate visual feedback while flies, fish, or mice move naturally through an arena.

Research paper

Stowers JR*, Hofbauer M*, Bastien R, Griessner J⁑, Higgins P⁑, Farooqui S⁑, Fischer RM, Nowikovsky K, Haubensak W, Couzin ID, Tessmar-Raible K✎, Straw AD✎. Virtual Reality for Freely Moving Animals. Nature Methods 14, 995–1002 (2017) doi:10.1038/nmeth.4399 [FreemoVR website]

* Equal contribution, ⁑ Equal contribution, ✎ Correspondence to: Kristin Tessmar-Raible and Andrew D Straw

Press information (press release, photos, videos) can be found here.

Software

The FreemoVR system consists of several pieces:

freemovr_engine
flydra (Note that flydra is now superseded by Braid.)

FreemoVR derives from software known as FlyVR, and some relevant information can still be found at the FlyVR website.