Scientists build tiny virtual reality goggles for mice
One of the virtual reality tests tricked mice into believing a dark blotch was approaching them, to see if they startled. "Almost every single mouse, the first time they see it with the goggles, they jump," the study's author said.
Sunday 29 December 2024 15:28, UK
Scientists have built tiny VR goggles for mice so they can better study how animals behave in virtual reality.
Researchers at Cornell University created the MouseGoggles using low-cost, off-the-shelf components such as smartwatch displays and tiny lenses.
They then put the headsets on the mice, seeing how they responded to different stimuli.
The miniature goggles could help reveal how the brain deals with spatial navigation and memory, which may help scientists understand diseases like Alzheimer's and its potential treatments, according to Cornell University.
One of the most effective VR tests was tricking mice into believing an expanding dark blotch was approaching them, according to Cornell.
"When we tried this kind of a test in the typical VR setup with big screens, the mice did not react at all," said Matthew Isaacson, one of the study's lead authors.
"But almost every single mouse, the first time they see it with the goggles, they jump. They have a huge startle reaction. They really did seem to think they were getting attacked by a looming predator."
About a decade ago, the Cornell team started designing expensive projector screens so mice could be studied navigating virtual reality environments, but the rigs were often clunky and ineffective.
Instead, Mr Isaacson set about assembling a VR headset that would be simpler but more immersive.
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Many of the components he needed were already commercially available.
"It definitely benefited from the hacker ethos of taking parts that are built for something else and then applying it to some new context," Mr Isaacson said.
"The perfect size display, as it turns out, for a mouse VR headset is pretty much already made for smartwatches.
"We were lucky that we didn't need to build or design anything from scratch, we could easily source all the inexpensive parts we needed."