Scientists have built small VR glasses for mice so they can better study how animals behave in virtual reality.
Researchers at Cornell University created the MouseGoggles using cheap, off-the-shelf components like smartwatch displays and small lenses.
They then put the headphones on the mice and watched how they responded to different stimuli.
The miniature glasses could help reveal how the brain handles spatial navigation and memory, which could help scientists understand diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and its possible treatments, according to Cornell University.
One of the most effective VR tests was to trick mice into believing that a spreading dark spot was coming toward them, Cornell said.
“When we tried these types of tests in the typical VR setup with large screens, the mice didn’t respond at all,” said Matthew Isaacson, one of the study’s lead authors.
“But almost every mouse jumps the first time they see it with the glasses. They have a huge startle response. They really seemed to think they were being attacked by a threatening predator.”
About a decade ago, the Cornell team began designing expensive projector screens so that mice could be studied as they navigated virtual reality environments, but the installations were often clumsy and ineffective.
Instead, Mr. Isaacson set out to put together 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 took advantage of the hacker ethos of taking parts that were built for something else and then applying them in a new context,” Isaacson said.
“The perfect screen size, it turns out, for a mouse VR headset is pretty much already made for smartwatches.
“We were fortunate that we didn’t have to build or design anything from scratch, we could easily find all the cheap parts we needed.”