Nottingham, 18 February 1999 - Tracksys Ltd, distributors of Noldus Information Technology products in the UK, have introduced a new product to enable behavioral researchers to observe animal or human behavior under low light conditions or in darkness.

Animals which are only nocturnally active (whether in their natural habitat or in the laboratory) or which live in dens provide a specific problem for the behavioral observer; namely providing adequate lighting for filming at the site or in the lab without influencing animals' behavior. This problem can be solved with the new Tracksys Infrared LED Array.

This compact unit, packaged in a waterproof casing, contains a heat-sunk array of 90 infrared LEDs that generate only negligible visible light. This way the observer will have a good view of the animal, but not the other way around! The array can be automatically operated by a light sensitive switch, which activates the LEDs only when light conditions call for it.

The unit is especially suited for field work: running from a 12 V car battery it can illuminate up to 25 meter distance. Of course it can also be used indoors for observations under low light conditions. The Infrared LED Array can be used with practically any monochrome, IR-sensitive CCD camera. Video recordings made under these conditions can be coded and analyzed with The Observer Video-Pro software. Under laboratory conditions the array enables video tracking of animals with EthoVision in dim red light or complete darkness, for instance when studying circadian rhythms.

Availability: In the UK or Ireland, please contact Tracksys Ltd (info@tracksys.demon.co.uk). In other countries, please contact our sales offices in Wageningen, The Netherlands (info@tracksys.demon.co.uk), Freiburg, Germany (info@noldus.de) or Sterling, USA (info@noldus.com).