Taeniura lymmaBlue-spotted ribbontail ray
Rhincodon typusWhale sharkNon-Invasive Camera Motion Analysis Platform
NICMA estimates animal energy expenditure from underwater video. Through research and expert consultancy, we help relate these estimates to biomass demand and ecosystem capacity.
What is NICMAA different way to observe
NICMA combines non-invasive video analysis, scientific expertise and ecological interpretation to move from animal movement to ecosystem-level insight.
Look closer
Explore frames from a real NICMA demonstration. Reveal the tracking view, then see what the software reports.
Blue-spotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma), Red Sea, Egypt. NICMA tracking output. Video: © Sara Asadi Gharabaghi.
Move the lens to compare demonstration frames.
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus). Validation case in the NICMA method paper (Integrative and Comparative Biology, 2025). Video: © Sara Asadi Gharabaghi.
The demonstration scales the footage using a body-length reference, follows the animal and reports estimated speed and distance alongside the tracking output.
Energy outputs combine movement with model assumptions and biological parameters. They need scientific interpretation in the context of the study.
Demonstration frames, not live analysis. Energy is estimated, not a direct measurement of metabolism.
Explore the applicationHow NICMA works
From video input to quantitative estimates — generated by software, interpreted by scientists.
All NICMA outputs are estimates based on video analysis and model assumptions. They are not direct measurements and should be interpreted by qualified scientists in the context of each study.
NICMA ApplicationUpload your video and let NICMA do the analysis.
Phase 1 outputs (automatic and approximate):
NICMA’s research and consultancy team builds on the software outputs to give them ecological meaning.
In Phase 3, NICMA supports real-world applications by combining:
Final outputs:
Technology
NICMA begins at the image-formation level. A physics-aware optics model takes into account lens geometry, underwater light attenuation, radiance decay and sensor noise. This helps stabilise fine-scale motion cues in raw video and forms the basis for non-contact analysis.
A multi-frame reconstruction engine, built with Python-based computer-vision pipelines, estimates dense motion fields. It is designed to capture temporal continuity and fine-scale movement patterns that single-frame methods can miss.
Reconstructed motion fields are mapped to biomechanical representations using a physics-guided learning engine. This provides estimated kinematic metrics — such as oscillatory power, energy expenditure and gait parameters — without markers or sensors.
Features
Computational motion analysis, designed for real underwater environments.
Passive motion extraction from raw underwater video — with no tags, markers or physical instruments.
Physics-aware temporal reconstruction is designed to detect very small displacements, down to sub-pixel level when video quality allows.
Optimised Python and computer-vision pipelines analyse a typical video within minutes on standard hardware.
Optics-aware modelling helps compensate for underwater light loss, scattering and changing light conditions.
A detection pipeline that can follow several marine animals in the same video.
Physics-guided models convert motion fields into estimated biomechanical indicators, such as energy use and oscillatory power.
Building a global, non-intrusive motion intelligence network for the world’s oceans.
NICMA aims to empower a global community of marine observers — from scientists to citizen divers — to contribute high-value movement data that advances research and supports conservation. Through physics-guided modelling and single-camera underwater analysis, we envision a future where useful biomechanical insight can be gained passively, ethically and at ecosystem scale.
NICMA is a non-invasive motion analysis system built on physics-guided computer vision and high-dimensional kinematic modelling. It extracts motion signals from a single camera — without markers, depth sensors or controlled laboratory setups.
Our mission is to make biomechanical analysis more accessible: in natural environments, underwater habitats, research facilities and field conditions where traditional systems are difficult to use.
By combining optics-aware signal modelling, multi-frame motion-field reconstruction and a learning-based kinematic engine, NICMA delivers interpretable movement and energy estimates — enabling biologists, conservation practitioners and engineers to study animal movement without physical contact.
Read the full storyNICMA is available by request and registration through our platform. We welcome collaboration with researchers, marine organisations and educational institutions interested in applying our motion-based analysis to their own video datasets.
NICMA project · Red Sea, Egypt
Our first field project with NICMA: we followed free-ranging blue-spotted ribbontail rays (Taeniura lymma) in seagrass, sand and coral habitats near Marsa Alam, Egypt, and compared how they move and how much energy they use in each habitat.
Animals adjust how they move and how much energy they spend to the habitat they live in. This makes energy use a potential new indicator of habitat condition – for example, to check whether a reef restoration project is working.
Non-contact observation creates a starting point for the research.
Explore the underwater imagery that connects the project with the wider ocean community.
Open the galleryEvidence with context
The presentation identifies calibration, camera motion, visibility and sample size as limitations. Further species-specific validation is a next research step.
Discuss your researchOn stage
NICMA has been presented to the international elasmobranch research community – first as a new method, then applied to a real field study.
From simple videos to energy budgets: a new way to study sharks and rays without tagging
Presented by Sara Asadi Gharabaghi
Introduction of NICMA as a non-invasive, video-based method to estimate movement and energy expenditure in sharks, rays and fish.
From Pixels to Energy: First NICMA Application to Taeniura lymma in the Red Sea
Presented by Sara Asadi Gharabaghi · Co-author: Maik Teubner
Movement and energy use of the blue-spotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma) across three habitats near Marsa Alam, Red Sea, analysed with NICMA.
Read the abstractInterested in a NICMA talk or workshop at your meeting?
Contact usA shared ocean
Many people care deeply about the ocean but are unsure how to take part in conservation science. Whether you lead a research project or film marine life on your dives, there is a place for you in NICMA.
Tell us about your species, footage and research question. The team can discuss what is suitable for your project.
Start a conversationLet’s connect
Collaborations, research partnerships, testing access and support.
nicma.team@gmail.comWant to support the work?
Visit the NICMA GoFundMe