I’ve been having fun modifying the Target stimulus in the FlyFly software. We now have an expanding range of options for displaying 2D and 3D targets.
FlyFly can now display any 2-D target you like, as well as a spherical target in 3D that changes size and brightness with its distance from the fly. Motion paths in a trial can be specified in a number of convenient ways, and straight-line paths can be “stitched together” over several trials to create a complex continuous trajectory. And targets can optionally be combined with 2D or 3D backgrounds that can be static or move independently of the target. It’s exciting that Sarah will start using these new capabilities of FlyFly in our experiments very soon.
We’ve also split the 3D target to have a version where target trajectories are defined purely by azimuth and elevation angles and straight-line distance to the fly. It will be really cool to starting using this stimulus further down the track to create more naturalistic simulations of flight.