After meeting Taylor Strange, a then-undergraduate student in need of a thesis project for the Undergraduate Research Scholars program, Woodman said she offered her idea of birds playing video games, along with her mentorship to Strange for about a year.

She said the project not only won the university's highest research award -- the Vice President for Research: Excellence in Research award -- in 2015, but also helped the duo win a National Science Foundation Innovation Corps grant for $50,000 to participate in an entrepreneurial course.

"We used the grant to find out … what people may need from the technology we have where we can automate tasks with animals," Woodman said, "whether it's giving animals entertainment, giving treats, exercise or checking up on them remotely. It also helped us learn the basics of commercializing and finding a niche for our technology outside of the laboratory."

According to Brightsmith, the people most interested in this new invention are those most aware of the harmful effects of sedentary birds.

Physical risks of prolonged inactivity include obesity, a decrease in bone density and arteriosclerosis -- the hardening of the arteries. Brightsmith said the lack of mental stimulation, however, can cause them to sometimes "go crazy."