Many animals navigate by following sensory gradients: changes in light, sound, odor, or other signals across space. Work in Matthieu Louis’s lab has shown that Drosophila larvae use active sensing strategies to do this, including tracking changes in sensory input over time and scanning the local environment before choosing where to move. Together, we use closed-loop virtual reality to test whether similar principles govern human navigation.
Active Sensing for Gradient Navigation
Team
Bionic Vision Lab Affiliates
Principal Investigator
Collaborator
Funding
New Interdisciplinary Collaborations Seed Grant:
Active sensing strategies for gradient navigation across sensory modalities in humans
PI: Matthieu Louis (UCSB)
July 2026 - June 2027
Office of Research
University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)