I've always thought praying mantises were kind of cool. But a praying mantis in 3-D shades is ultracool. Even cooler is that the glasses may help give neuroscientist researchers information that could outfit robots with 3-D vision.
The head of Newcastle University’s project, Dr. Jenny Read from the university’s Institute of Neuroscience, explained the choice of praying mantises for this exploratory work:
“They’re the only invertebrate that we know have 3D vision... the great attraction of an insect is it’s a much simpler system.”
The research team is using human-sized 3-D glasses, similar to those used in movie theaters, and cutting mantis-sized lenses out of them. Beeswax is used to attach the glasses in place over the insects' eyes. Then it's time for some mantis movies! One feature is an action flick in which a dot moves on the screen, mimicking the movement of a bug. The scientists then record the mantises' “strike” responses. Learn more about the experimentation by viewing the video below. Via Unique Daily.
Video and Image Credit: Newcastle University
I can't imagine the trouble that someone researching animal senses can get into with so much stuff, audio and visual, designed around human limits. Even with stuff made to work for timing and parts of the spectrum relevant to the animal, without careful checking it could be hard to miss if something breaks or goes wrong, or there is a chance the original measurements on their sensory range missed something.