Designing Interactive Toys for Elephants

Abstract

This research is investigating the potential for designing digital toys and games as playful cognitive enrichment activities for captive elephants. The new field of Animal Computer Interaction is exploring a range of approaches to the problem of designing user-centred systems for animals and this investigation into devices for elephants aims to directly contribute towards a methodological approach for designing smart and playful enrichment for all species.

A Report on the First International Workshop on Research Methods in Animal-Computer Interaction

“…For instance, in designing interactive toys for elephants [6] or a computer game for orangutans [42], zoo keepers and handlers can provide important insights that inform the design of the artefacts. There is therefore a need to develop a balanced approach, supplementing data gathered by ACI researchers with insights from professionals working with animals (and assisting when conflicting approaches can complicate best-case solutions), as well as from individuals looking for solutions for their animals.…”

“…It also included the use of multispecies ethnography [25,23], which integrates researchers' observations of animal behavior, corroborated by expert advice, with accounts provided by the animals' human companions, acting as mediators; such observations paid particular attention to contextual associations that the animals might use to attribute meaning and respond to technological interventions. Moreover, the team had used iterative physical prototyping to elicit canine requirements [25], when designing an interface for alert dogs, enabling them to express their design preferences; they had also used the method for gauging interest and finding preferences of captive elephants towards different designs of interactive toys for cognitive enrichment [6]. The species-specific analysis and implementation of core interaction design principles had also been used by the team to inform the design of interactive environments that could better support canine users tasked with assisting humans with disabilities.…”

Developing for non-human users: Reflecting on practical implications in the ubiquitous computing era

“…Indeed, such prototypeoriented agile development seems to be the prevalent technique in the literature of ACI. Variations of this development method were used, e.g., for designing sensor-based canine interfaces [21,22,10] and for designing enrichment for elephants and apes kept in captivity [23,8,24].…”

Animal-Computer Interaction: The emergence of a discipline

“…Researchers also begun to explore the usefulness of theoretical and critical approaches from fields such as ethnomethodology (Weilenmann and Juhlin, 2011), biosemiotics (Mancini et al 2012) and speculative design (Lawson et al 2015) to examine the interaction between humans, animals and technology. While initially much of this research focussed mostly on applications whose purpose is to mediate playful human-animal interactions (Resner, 2001;Cheok et al, 2011), their interest quickly extended to applications designed to support the activities of human-animal working partnerships (Jackson et al 2013 and to improve the welfare of captive animals (Wirman, 2014;French et al 2015). In short, a growing body of work has been shaping a new discourse around animals and technology, in which animals themselves and their technological interactions are the central concern.…”

“…For example, work by Resner (2001), Cheok et al (2011), Pons et al (2015, Wirman (2014) or French et al (2015) aimed to provide domestic and captive animals who live confined with playful experiences that could benefit them while, in most cases, also serving as a vehicle of human-animal interaction; but are those technology-mediated experiences what animals want to experience or are they rather what humans want for them and for themselves? Other work by Jackson et al (2013), Robinson et al (2015), Zeagler et al (2014) or Mancini et al (2016) aimed to provide working animals with tools to facilitate the tasks they are required to complete in partnership with humans; but are those technology-enabled tools needed by the animals or are they rather needed by the humans the animals work for?…”