Experimental Facilities

Where behavior meets quantitative tools

Virtual Reality in water

Virtual Reality in water

Individual FishVR systems can be networked to study a virtual school of fish.
Virtual Reality on land

Virtual Reality on land

The LocustVR is a panoramic virtual reality system for freely walking locusts.
A cutting-edge imaging facility in an 18th century barn

A cutting-edge imaging facility in an 18th century barn

The Imaging Barn is a 15 m x 7 m x 4 m free-flight aviary equipped with state-of-the-art tracking and projection technology.
The world's largest ultra high-res tracking facility for animals

The world's largest ultra high-res tracking facility for animals

The Imaging Hanger in the Centre for Visual Computing of Collectives.
Continuous tracking of animals from space (ICARUS)

Continuous tracking of animals from space (ICARUS)

Antennas on the International Space Station collect data from tagged animals almost anywhere on Earth. Image: Roscosmos
Virtual Reality in the air

Virtual Reality in the air

The FlyCave creates an immersive virtual envirnoment for flying invertebrates.

Our experimental facilities are where we harness emerging tech and apply it to fulfil our mission to understand animal decision-making. From a 1m2 virtual environment for fruit flies (the FlyCave) to the largest ultra-high resolution tracking facility for animals in the world (the Imaging Hangar), the experimental infrastructure at MPI-AB supports researchers with tools for studying animal movement in high resolution using imaging, satellite animal tracking, and immersive virtual environments.

Virtual Reality Systems
A suite of core facilities for Virtual Reality allows researchers to apply virtual environments in experiments on both invertebrates and vertebrates—in the air, on land, and in water. Find out about ongoing projects using VR. more
The Imaging Barn
The Imaging Barn is a collaborative project between the Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior near Radolfzell. Housed within a traditional 18th-century barn at the MPIAB campus, it is a core facility for studying the dynamics of highly naturalistic interactions, such as when animals or people meet, eat, or make decisions together. more
Imaging Hangar
The Imaging Hangar is an outstanding foundation for research on collective behavior that allows scientists to study the phenomena that occur within animal groups. Built in 2021 in the University of Konstanz "VCC" building, this eight-meter-high, 225 m2 hall is the largest ultra-high resolution tracking facility for animals in the world. more
The Icarus Initiative
By tracking animals continuously over their lifetimes from space, ICARUS has revolutionized movement ecology. Scientists are using ICARUS to find out more about the lives of animals on earth, and in doing so, will aid conservation, predicting the spread of infectious diseases, and even forecasting natural disasters.
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