A Glasgow University researcher has already created a phone for canines and a social connection system for parrots.
Researchers are employing interactive digital tools to revolutionize animal communication, aiming to establish an “animal internet” featuring video calls for both parrots and dogs.
Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, who serves as a lecturer and researcher at Glasgow University, spearheads the Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) group. She has engineered interfaces that facilitate long-distance communication for companion animals and interactive enrichment setups for zoological creatures such as monkeys and giraffes.
Many animals held in captivity are inherently social beings, yet they frequently lack the group structures or the extent of social engagement they would experience in their natural habitats, the scientist noted.
Hirskyj-Douglas commenced her research by constructing a phone for her dog, Zach, enabling them to communicate when she was absent. This device permits the dog to shake a ball containing an accelerometer, which signals the system to initiate a video call to her on a proximate screen. Either individual can initiate contact or choose to answer or disregard the call.
Zach frequently placed calls to her, and these video conversations quickly became a regular occurrence, she stated.
Subsequently, Hirskyj-Douglas and her colleagues devised video calling capabilities for parrots to interact. The avian subjects were taught to use their tongues on tablet touchscreens, allowing them to establish connections with other parrots through a form of social matchmaking system.
“Our intention is to advance beyond basic video calling and truly empower animals to engage interactively,” she commented at the British Science Festival in Liverpool on Thursday, according to the FT.
“For a functional ‘animal internet’ to be established, we must create species-specific technologies designed to cater to their requirements, providing them with instruments aligned with their capabilities,” Hirskyj-Douglas remarked in a statement released by Glasgow University earlier this month.
Baidu, the foremost search engine operator in China, submitted a patent application in May for an AI technology capable of converting animal vocalizations into human language. This system holds the potential to foster “deeper emotional communication and understanding between animals and humans,” Baidu indicated in the patent filing.