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Article
Design of a Retinal Tracking System for Jumping Spiders
Proceedings of SPIE (2011)
  • Cristina Canavesi, University of Rochester
  • Skye Long, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Dennis Fantone, University of Rochester
  • Elizabeth Jakob
  • Robert R. Jackson, University of Canterbury
  • Duanne Harland, AgResearch
  • Jannick P. Rolland, University of Rochester
Abstract
We designed an optical system for tracking the retinal movement of a jumping spider as a stimulus is presented to it. The system, using all off-the-shelf optical components except for one custom aspheric plate, consists of three sub-systems that share a common path: a visible stimuli presentation sub-system, a NIR illumination sub-system, and a NIR retinal imaging sub-system. A 25 mm clearance between the last element and the spider ensures a stable positioning of the spider. The stimuli presentation system relays an image from a display to the spider eye, matching the 15 arcmin resolution of the two principal eyes and producing a virtual image at a distance of 255 mm from the spider, with a visual full field of view of 52o . When viewing a stimulus, the spider moves its retinas, which cover a full field of view of only 0.6o , and directs them to view different places in the visual field. The retinal imaging system uses a NIR camera to track changes of 0.5o in the field of view seen by the spider. By tracking retinal movement across images presented to spiders, we will learn how they search for visual cues to identify prey, rivals, and potential mates.
Keywords
  • jumping spider,
  • retinal imaging
Disciplines
Publication Date
2011
DOI
http://doi.org/10.1117/12.896353
Publisher Statement
Copyright 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.
Citation Information
Citation Cristina Canavesi ; Skye Long ; Dennis Fantone ; Elizabeth Jakob ; Robert R. Jackson ; Duane Harland and Jannick P. Rolland "Design of a retinal tracking system for jumping spiders", Novel Optical Systems Design and Optimization XIV, R. John Koshel; G. Groot Gregory, Editors, Proc. SPIE 8219, 81290A (September 14, 2011); doi:10.1117/12.896353;