Renaud Bastien

University of Konstanz, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Papers

Total Citations

234

H-Index

About

Renaud Bastien is a computational biologist and behavioral scientist whose research sits at the intersection of collective behavior, sensory ecology, and bio-inspired robotics. His work fundamentally challenges long-standing assumptions in the field of collective motion, demonstrating that coordinated group behavior can emerge from purely vision-based, locally available information — without individuals requiring a "bird's-eye" perspective of their surroundings. His most influential contribution, a vision-based model of collective behavior (2020, 159 citations), has reshaped how researchers think about the minimal sensory requirements underlying flocking, schooling, and swarming. Bastien has also made significant methodological contributions through his work on virtual environments for animal research (2020, 57 citations), helping establish XR technologies as rigorous tools for studying animal perception and decision-making. More recently, he has translated his theoretical insights into practical robotics, developing purely vision-driven swarm algorithms that eliminate reliance on global communication or positioning systems (2025, 12 citations). Across his body of work, Bastien bridges biological theory and engineering application, offering a compelling framework for understanding how simple sensory rules give rise to sophisticated collective intelligence in both natural and artificial systems.