Introducing SMART :

SMART is a powerful video-based motor activity analysis system. Using the state-of-the-art digital imaging, SMART converts your PC-computer in a unique tool able to an extremely precise analysis of motor behaviour in experimental animals. SMART makes full profit of the Windows environment, offering a flexible and easy to learn interface.
SMART allows behavioural scientists to be free of the direct observation and manual data collection in a range of experimental situations only limited by the video input.
SMART offers not only spatial position information but also automatic detection of a range of specific behaviours. Able to work either with a single animal in a single arena, with several animals in separate arenas or with several animals in the same arena, SMART provides great flexibility and accuracy in the evaluation of motor behaviours.


In short… The video signal, coming from a video camera located above the experimental set-up, is fed into a computer running the SMART software. The image is digitised and displayed on the computer monitor, providing direct feedback of what is happening. The real-time image is also used for interactive design of zones or calibration of the experimental set-up.


SMART stores video images in memory and extracts from it a range of image features, writes the data to a track file on disk, ready for analysis and presents data in the monitor jointly with the real time video image. Optionally, a videocassette recorder can be also used to store the video signal. SMART can process indistinctly live video from the camera or pre-recorded video from tape.

SMART covers a wide variety of APPLICATIONS for Experimental Biology:

• Motor and Locomotor activity
• Anxiety: Open-field, Plus-maze, O-maze, Black and White box
• Depression, Forced-Swimming Test Tail-Suspension Test
• Learning and Memory
• Water maze, Radial maze, T-maze
• Fear conditioning
• Object recognition Test

SAMPLE VIDEOS OF VARIOUS SMART APPLICATIONS
Click here to play the Morris Water Maze video
Click here to play the Open Field video
Click here to play the Elevated Plus Maze video
Click here to play the Elevated O Maze video
Click here to play the Elevated W Maze video
Click here to play the Social Interaction video