Laboratory Lighting for Morris Water Maze
Typically best tracking results are obtained with constant, shadow free indirect lighting in the range of 400-600 lux although the Microsoft Cameras chosen for systems like the HVS Image 2013 and 2014 can work at lower levels - even down to 50 lux. Lighting should be even across the tracking area (i.e. not light on one side and dark on the other. Typically the human eye is very insensitive to this sort of change, but cameras are highly effective at quantifying and reacting to such differences.
Indirect lighting needs a linear light that has close bulb spacing and is designed for that purpose. You can buy specialist lights or improvise with domestic lighting either from up-lighters or diffused fluorescent strips. Ikea uplighters are popular cheap options [1] but you'll need to adjust very carefully. The best light sources for tracking for water maze are diffused incandescent bulbs.Be warned, any shadow or specular reflection whatsoever on the water surface will ruin your results and data.
Note that the lux is one lumen per square metre (lm/m2), and the corresponding radiometric unit, which measures irradiance, is the watt per square metre (W/m2). There is no single conversion factor between lx and W/m2; there is a different conversion factor for every wavelength, and it is not possible to make a conversion unless one knows the spectral composition of the light.
Indirect lighting needs a linear light that has close bulb spacing and is designed for that purpose. You can buy specialist lights or improvise with domestic lighting either from up-lighters or diffused fluorescent strips. Ikea uplighters are popular cheap options [1] but you'll need to adjust very carefully. The best light sources for tracking for water maze are diffused incandescent bulbs.Be warned, any shadow or specular reflection whatsoever on the water surface will ruin your results and data.
Note that the lux is one lumen per square metre (lm/m2), and the corresponding radiometric unit, which measures irradiance, is the watt per square metre (W/m2). There is no single conversion factor between lx and W/m2; there is a different conversion factor for every wavelength, and it is not possible to make a conversion unless one knows the spectral composition of the light.
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