Read this blog post to get quick access to all the highlights of 2018 from Noldus IT and its community, the Measuring Behavior 2018 conference, various other conferences, and our Behavioral Research Blog articles. 

Jan 2018 – Los Angeles, CA, USA was host to IMSH conference

We started 2018 by exhibiting at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare which is the world's largest conference dedicated to healthcare simulation learning, research and scholarship. It is also an important educational and networking event for the simulation world. When the exhibit hall opened, the party started! 

February 2018 – Blog about a new rat model for neonatal white matter injury (WMI)

Every year researchers dive deeper and bring more insights into behavior. On the Behavioral Research Blog, guest author Erik van Tilborg, a Ph.D. student from UMC Utrecht, The Netherlands, explains why it is so crucial that more research is performed to find out the cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to WMI in preterm infants, and in order to find new treatment options.

March 2018 – Improving teacher practices in Mons, Belgium

Marie Bocquillon of the University of Mons in Belgium uses Noldus' software for her research about improving teacher practices. Watch the movie to find out why Marie thinks that future teachers should look critically at their own performances.

April 2018 - 122 solar panels, sedum roof, and LED lighting

This year, 122 solar panels were placed on the roof of the Noldus Wageningen office. Together with the new climate system based on heat pumps, our company has made a large step towards being one of the most environmentally friendly companies in our business area! In April 2018, representatives of the municipality of Wageningen came to our headquarters to celebrate the retirement of our gas consumption!

122 solar panels on Noldus Headquarters in Wageningen

May 2018 – Measuring Behavior conference in Manchester

Measuring Behavior is known for its interdisciplinary character. This year's fantastic host Manchester Metropolitan University made it possible to discuss methods and techniques used to measure behavior, in the broadest sense of the word. We discussed the behavior of monkeys, rats, robotics, and consumer behavior. Are you interested in going to such an interdisciplinary event? Join us in Krakow in 2020!

June 2018 – Blog about the relation between soccer world cup success and emotions

Scientific research showed us that emotional expressions like anger and happiness matter in being successful in the group phase of the soccer World Cup. Researchers Astrid Hopfensitz and Cesar Mantilla from the University of Toulouse and Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá analyzed 4318 pictures of soccer players from 304 participating teams in 12 editions of the FIFA Soccer World Cup. They used FaceReader in order to do this analysis. Read on for more details!

FREE WHITE PAPER: FaceReader methodology

Download the free FaceReader methodology note to learn more about facial expression analysis theory.

• How FaceReader works
• More about the calibration
• Insight in quality of analysis & output

 Download

July 2018 – Berlin, Germany was the place to be for European Neuroscientists

The 11th FENS Forum of Neuroscience was in Berlin this year, and attracted many researchers from all around the world. Noldus demonstrated how to use our DanioVision system. The Toplight unit color show was quite the attraction in our booth! These colored LED lights actually have scientific purpose. The Toplight unit is just one of the many add-ons we have for our zebrafish larvae activity monitoring system. If you are interested, we are hapy to advise you on what add-ons will suit your research best.

Three LED colors in the Toplight Unit.

August 2018 – Noldus opens office in Santiago de Chile, Chile

André Kraaijkamp en Leonie Huis in ’t Veld successfully opened a Noldus office in Latin America so that we are able to visit and support customers more easily, understand your research needs better, and create partnerships in this area of the world!

September 2018 – Announcing Dubai's first purpose-built usability lab

Home to some of the world’s most luxurious hotels and tallest buildings, Dubai is increasingly becoming a smart city where technological innovation is key. User experience experts Digital of Things identified the growing need for good UX in the region, and established the UAE’s first purpose-built, state-of-the-art usability testing lab. Read all about this impressive facility in this news item.  

Dubai UX Lab

October 2018 – Blog about a validation-study to review the performance of FaceReader in the detection of basic emotions and Action Units

In October, we published a blog post from Jan Zumhasch, who studied at the Technical University Dresden in Germany and successfully completed a Master's degree in communication science. In his Master thesis, he validated FaceReader 7.1, including the Action Unit Module. He concluded that FaceReader is really good at detecting the correct emotion on display, but in many cases the parameter value is not high enough to get labeled correctly. Instead, the neutral facial status is displayed. Please read more in the blog post and see what automatic facial expression analysis could contribute to your research.

November 2018 – Neuroscience conference in San Diego, CA, USA

At Neuroscience 2018 in San Diego, you might have met Joey and Chloe from Noldus. This conference is always a fantastic opportunity to show neuroscientists from all around the world what is new in research tools and equipment, but it is also a great opportunity to have fun together. Many Noldus customers come by to say hi and ask small questions about analysis outcomes or an upcoming training date. In addition, they get to have fun with the Noldus staff! Enjoy the video(s) of Chloe and Joey, which are posted below.

December 2018 – Happy holidays!

At the end of the year, we always get a little sentimental. Is it already December? We had so many more plans and ideas to work on! However, don’t be sad. We’re still here in January, having enjoyed a short break – January will start with an office that is fresh and full of energy!! On behalf of everyone at Noldus Information Technology, we wish you Happy Holidays!