EthoVision XT 7.0: now available!
This November, we released the new and improved version of our premier video tracking system. The second release this year! EthoVision XT 7.0 will include a Manual Event Recorder and several improvements in usability and performance, keeping up the good name EthoVision XT has earned over the years.

NEW! Manual Event Recorder
The Manual Event Recorder is a built-in coding system included in EthoVision XT 7.0 Base. It allows you to define a list of behaviors that you can score manually during data acquisition. An ideal addition to automatic tracking! It is perfect for scoring detailed behaviors that cannot yet be automatically detected in a reliable way, such as fighting or play behavior. Additionally, you can use it to validate and fine-tune parameters that are automatically calculated, such as elongation, mobility, or nose-to-nose contact in social interaction studies.

Improved performance and user interface
New features in the user interface make the program more intuitive. Changes include the improved Experiment Explorer, which now encompasses the complete experiment workflow. It also allows you to navigate more efficiently through the application. Additionally, you can take snapshots at different points in the program, such as the arena definition or trial control settings. Ideal for reports and presentations! The improved performance of EthoVision XT 7.0 will have your experiments running faster and smoother.

Social Interaction Module
This module was added to the EthoVision XT family earlier this year. Use it to track multiple animals within one arena and study their interaction in great detail. Track the color marker of each animal or use a color marker to identify your rodents, while tracking multiple body points (in combination with the Multiple Body Points Module). This module offers a range of social parameters for meaningful results, such as the amount of nose to nose contact, time spent within a certain proximity, or the relative movement of two animals to each other.

Trial & Hardware Control Module
Another module we presented earlier this year. With the Trial & Hardware Control Module you can fully automate your research! Define test protocols that include Boolean operators and randomization functions to initiate and control interactions between your animals and external sensor and stimuli devices. The possibilities for learning or anxiety tests are endless. For example, create a protocol to automatically raise a platform in a water maze after the animal has spent a certain amount of time in the water or traveled a certain distance. Or create sophisticated rules for home cage experiments with PhenoTyper®.   

The latest usability improvements in the Trial (& Hardware) Control functionality will make designing your experiment protocol a more intuitive and creative experience!

Additional improvements made in EthoVision XT Base this year

• Support of color tracking. Color tracking offers several possibilities. You can track an animal based on color differences, instead of making this distinction in grayscale only.
• New detection method. EthoVision XT is known for its superior detection and now a new method is added to the list: Differencing. With this method detection and tracking in uneven illuminated areas becomes much more accurate. It also improves tracking of multi-colored animals, such as hooded rats. 
• Integrated visualization. Once your data is collected, you want to see what it looks like. EthoVision XT’s new integrated visualization does just that: it gives you an immediate feel for your data, as the video, the animal’s track, and any parameter you want to visualize is in one synchronized dynamic view.
• New analysis option. You can analyze the last occurrence of state parameters to, for example, accurately analyze the time it took an animal to reach the platform in a watermaze.
• New data selection criterion. You can use ‘minimum distance moved’ as a criterion for data selection. 
• Improved trial control possibilities. Use all parameters as conditions for Automatic Trial Control. 
• Support of firewire camera. Besides the proven solutions with an analog camera, EthoVision XT now also supports firewire camera input.