This project seeks to develop user-friendly software, anyFish, for researchers, educators, and students seeking to develop realistic, scientifically rigorous computer animations of fish based on real-world data on behavior, shape, and color. The software will be used to produce stimuli for use in behavioral experiments, as well as interactive modules for educational use. The software will allow rigorous testing of theories of collective behavior, social interactions, and cognition. Students will be widely familiar with analogous systems in computer games, making it a particularly powerful tool to bring students into STEM programs by piquing the interest of students in science, biology, and animal behavior. A module based on anyFish will be integrated into the Virtual Biology educational software package for inquiry-based education at high school and college levels. anyFish will also make it easy for students to participate in original research on a minimal budget. A single desktop computer can be used to create and play back stimuli, and a handful of aquaria are required for the experiments. Students at smaller and minority-serving institutions will be able to design and execute rigorous, state-of-the-art experiments in animal behavior.
This project was a partnership between researchers with a background in computer graphics and animation, and scientists using computer-animated stimuli for research and teaching in animal behavior. The goal of the project was to produce open-source software, anyFish, that biologists and educators could use to flexibily generate realistic animations of commonly-used aquarium fish. Users generate shape and image files using free or commonly-used commercial software, then combine shapes and images with motion paths that they generate by interactively adjusting a three-dimensional model. Along the way, the project also generated several stand-alone applications for image processing and manipulation, including flipping, connecting, or sequentially numbering a batch of image files. anyFish and accessory programs are freely available for download at http://swordtail.tamu.edu/anyfish/, along with the program source code. The website also has a detailed help wiki, including step-by-step video tutorials. The software has been presented at several scientific conferences and in two research papers so far. The project also supported a high school teacher working with autistic children to collaborate on the project and provide valuable feedback on improving the sofware for use in K-12 classroom projects. The software is already being used by more than 50 laboratories and teachers in the USA and elsewhere in the world.
