PREVIEW
DigiSim Museum

The Fly’s Compass — a Ring Attractor

Open Simulator

The Fly’s Compass

RING ATTRACTOR · ELLIPSOID BODY · A HEADING HELD IN NEURONS

HEADINGdrift 0°

Drag the dial (or use ← → / A D) to turn the fly. Orange = where it actually points · cyan = its neural estimate.

Turn with the lights off and the compass drifts; switch them on and the landmark snaps it back. Drag the scene to orbit · ⌘/Ctrl+scroll to zoom.

RING ACTIVITYbump

The 36 compass neurons unrolled — one bump of activity, kept single by local excitation and global inhibition. Its position is the heading.

Drag the dial or use ← → / A D to turn the fly · toggle the lights · drag to orbit · ⌘/Ctrl + scroll to zoom