Monitoring Animal Behavior in the Smart Vivarium

In the course of modern medical research, it is common for a research facility to house thousands of caged mice, rats, rabbits, and other mammals in rooms known as vivaria. In any experiment involving a group of animals it is necessary to perform environmental and physiological monitoring to determine the effects of the procedure and the health of the animals involved. Such monitoring is currently performed by human observers, and for practical reasons, only a small subset of cages can be inspected for limited amounts of time. This short paper outlines the computer vision and machine learning technology behind the Smart Vivarium, a system for automated, continuous animal behavior monitoring. The Smart Vivarium will serve as an invaluable tool for medical researchers as it will make better use of fewer animals. Early discovery of sick animals will prevent diseases from spreading, and in general will lead to more efficient caretaking of animals. Additionally, the proposed technology can serve as a powerful tool for monitoring sentinel cages in potential bioterrorism targets and chemical agent research facilities.