  The core idea in an XR (VR/MR/AR) application is to digitally stimulate one
or more sensory systems (e.g. visual, auditory, olfactory) of the human user in
an interactive way to achieve an immersive experience. Since the early 2000s
biologists have been using Virtual Environments (VE) to investigate the
mechanisms of behavior in non-human animals including insect, fish, and
mammals. VEs have become reliable tools for studying vision, cognition, and
sensory-motor control in animals. In turn, the knowledge gained from studying
such behaviors can be harnessed by researchers designing biologically inspired
robots, smart sensors, and multi-agent artificial intelligence. VE for animals
is becoming a widely used application of XR technology but such applications
have not previously been reported in the technical literature related to XR.
Biologists and computer scientists can benefit greatly from deepening
interdisciplinary research in this emerging field and together we can develop
new methods for conducting fundamental research in behavioral sciences and
engineering. To support our argument we present this review which provides an
overview of animal behavior experiments conducted in virtual environments.
