A new approach to address the mystery of cuttlefish camouflage

2021 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21F21730
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Institution: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
• Principal Investigator: REITER Samuel 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 計算行動神経科学ユ ニット, 准教授 (60869155)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ROUX NATACHA 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 計算行動神経科学ユニット, 外国人特別研究員
• Project Period (FY): 2021-11-18 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: Visual perception / Camouflage / Cephalopod / Deep learning / Psychophysics

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

We have performed scientific diving around the Okinawan coast, collecting image datasets of different cuttlefish habitats. We have also begun to collect images of cuttlefish camouflaging within these habitats. In the laboratory, and working with collaborators in Italy, we are fitting deep neural networks with these datasets to study high dimensional visual textures within neural network latent spaces. We are also conducting psychophysics experiments probing human ability to detect cuttlefish in different backgrounds.

Current Status of Research Progress

2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.

Reason

We have confronted a great difficulty in acquiring a Japanese scientific diving license. Japan does not accept international licenses, and acquiring a Japanese license took nearly 1 year of paperwork. We are pleased to now be able to collect data in the field and are working on further data collection and analysis.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

While continuing our fieldwork, we will transition to data analysis. We will use state of the art deep learning techniques to analyse fieldwork images and arrive at an understanding of how environmental image statistics relate to cuttlefish camouflage.