Meeting Abstract
The color phenotype of an organism consists of a complete description of the variation in spectral reflectance over the entire organismal surface. Because many organisms use color in communication and crypsis, the color phenotype should be described over the visible spectrum of the organisms themselves or ecological interactors. New tools are needed to enable humans to visualize the extended spectral sensitivity and third color dimension of avian vision without human bias. Computer Graphics compensate for the limits of human color vision, simulating for humans what birds see with their enhanced color vision. Using physiological models of tetrachromatic avian color vision, we calculate avian color and brilliance vectors across the entire surface of a 3D virtual model of bird plumage, and project these vectors back on to the model to create a virtual plumage color vector field. The origins of the color vectors are positioned on the object’s surface with some vectors pointing inside and others pointing outside. The graphical user interface of our vector visualization tool presents a bi-directional approach to interacting with data. Two use cases dominate: the user may select vectors on the surface to highlight points in the chromaticity diagram and vise versa. The Cartesian coordinate system of the color vectors on the surface is actively linked to the Cartesian coordinate system of the chromaticity diagram. Application workflow enables the user to independently spin the chromaticity diagram and the organismal surface to (1) orient the vectors on the surface and (2) view the spatial variation of color phenotype over the entire organismal surface. Our technological innovation has the real potential to transform the way biologists quantify, analyze, and study the color phenotypes of multicellular organisms.
