First Nordic Noldus User Meeting

In the Norwegian university town of Ås, close to Oslo, the first Nordic Noldus User Meeting was held on 15 December, 2005. The meeting was hosted by Prof. Dr. Bjarne Braastad, of the Dept. of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

The user meeting was attended by some 25 people. Many came from various departments of the local university, others from the Oslo region. Some came all the way from Uppsala in Sweden, and happened to be in the area.

The meeting started with an update on the latest product improvements, including CatWalk, The Observer XT, Theme and EthoVision 3.1. After that there were talks by Svante Winberg, Arnstein Finset, Peter Graugaard, Erik Holt, and Hilde Eide. Each presented their work with The Observer and EthoVision.

After lunch there were lab visits. Inge Lise Andersen presented the research of the hosting Animal and Aquacultural Sciences group. Groups of goats are observed with a surveillance system, and the video material is analyzed with The Observer XT. The research focuses on social interactions. The other users could take a look at the goat housing, and the surveillance system.

A totally different lab was presented by Prof. Dr. Richard Meadow of the Dept. of Entomology and Nematology, on the other side of the university campus. The research is all about insects that are tracked inside a wind tunnel. There was an impressive contraption to purify the air, which had to be 100% odor-free for this research.

Finally, there was an opportunity to ask questions, get product demonstrations and receive training on specific topics relating to Noldus products.