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| ITS Software |
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| ITS Hardware |
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Interactive Tracking System (ITS)
ITS : The easy way to set up, run and analyze behavioral experiments with
precision.
The Interactive Tracking System (ITS) is a precise, video-based tracking
system for behavioral experimentation. ITS is designed to permit flexible
implementation for virtually any laboratory behavioral experiment that
involves tracking a subject and delivering stimuli or sensing responses as
the subject interacts with the environment. The ITS offers an affordable,
accurate tool for laboratories that want to reduce the time for set-up,
running and analysis of behavioral experiments.
The ITS consists of several features which ensure that your experimentation will be user-friendly and accurate. First, at the core of ITS is tracking software called Tracker (formerly iTrack). We also
provide Track Analysis, software for the offline analysis of data collected
with Tracker. The Tracker data format is ASCII and user-configurable so it is
easily imported into other software systems for independent and custom
analyses.
Because ITS is interactive, we also offer optional hardware. ITS can
automatically drive external devices through the BSG Control Box based on
experimental criteria you select, again, saving valuable time and making the
experiment easier to run and more precise. One of the most popular
hardware devices our customers buy with the ITS is the Rotating Arena. Dr.
Fenton and his colleagues have been doing new types of experiments with the
Rotating Arena - contact us to learn more.
ITS is sold in a variety of versions (open field, water maze, place
avoidance, place preference etc.), the appropriate configuration will
depend on the types of experiments that are planned. All configurations use
a basic set of hardware. You can buy one
version, or a suite of versions, and switch easily from one to another as
your experimental requirements change in the future without reprogramming.
The standard ITS configurations include :
Key characteristics of ITS :
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High-precision digital video-based tracking systems, analyzing up 100 video frames per second and up to 2 mega-pixels of resolution in real-real time
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A price which is among the lowest anywhere
- Allows multiple spot tracking
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Features output in ASCII, PostScript, PDF, XLS etc.
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PC / Laptop platforms
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Is interactive, allowing you to control external devices according to pre-specified algorithms or operator judgments.
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Many versions are available for common behavioral experiments (tracking, water maze, open field etc). Choose the version you need, or combine them!
General ITS features :
Video processing :
- Spot tracking based on the real-time analysis of video frames acquired by a digital firewire camera
- Time-stamped frame acquisition and verification of frames suitable for synchronization with electrophysiological recordings
- Frame rates up to 100 Hz
- Image resolution up to 2 Mpix
- Fish-eye lenses for large spaces
- Digitally controlled camera properties
- Multiple spot tracking. Spots definition is based on brightness/darkness, size, and region of interest
- Real-time video storage into AVI format
- Correction for lens barrel distortion and paralax distortion (3D cameras only)
- More than one spatial reference frame can be defined to permit simultaneous tracking in multiple spatial reference frames
Experiment Types :
- Operation within one or two simultaneous spatial reference frames
- 1 spot tracker
- 2 spot tracker for direction analysis
- n-spot tracker for n independent objects
- 1 frame Place Avoidance
- 2 frame place Avoidance
- 1 frame Place Preference
- 2 frame Place Preference
- 1 frame Place Indication
- 2 frame Place Indication
- Place Avoidance (in one frame) and Place Preference/Indication (in another frame) (simultaneous and alternating activation of the two contingency modes)
- Place Recognition
- Water Maze
- Foraging
- And more (we can also provide customized programming solutions for other required configurations)…
Hardware Output :
- Fast digital output for control of external devices (Rotating Arena, Feeder, Current Source, Light, Sound, water-delivery, air puff dispenser, etc.)
- Preset and on-line control of a motor for arena rotation (setting for Speed, direction, and arbitrary sequences of rotation)
- Pre-set and on-line control of a current source for delivering aversive stimulation (settings for amplitude, duration, and contingencies based on subject position, and time)
- Pre-set and on-line control of a feeder in various modes (Periodic, Random, Distance Triggered, Target-based, Fixed or Variable Targets)
- Camera sync output for synchronizing electrophysiological data, video-capture applications or multiple PC experiments
- Optional real-time output of coordinates to parallel I/O card (TTL, 8bits / coordinate)
Data Output :
- Transparent ASCII output format (example below)
- Header description of experimental parameters in each file
- User-definable continuous saving of data to disk or memory with post-experiment write to disk
- User-definable temporal frequency of data record output. Tracking moving objects can be done at high temporal resolution (up to television field rate), or at lower resolutions by intermittent sampling or by averaging high resolution samples for improved accuracy
- Configuration-dependent output information
Online controls :
- User event registration from PC keyboard
- Online visual feedback and summary of events (lost frames per second, total lost frames, spot position (s), number and occurrence of feeder (positive reinforcement) events, number and occurrence aversive stimulation (negative reinforcement) events, elapsed time, elapsed path, time to first event, state variables for the experimental )
- Custom spot colors and labels
- Real-time position coordinates
- Real-time direction coordinates
- On-line controls for Motor, Feeder and Current Source
- Sound event feedback
- Online visual control of tracked positions and experimental events
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