Design for animals as participants with their own sensory worlds, needs and choices. Animal–computer interaction (ACI) connects animal welfare, technology and relationships between species within the broader study of sentient experience.
Distinguish the structure of animal signals, responses to an interface and evidence of shared meaning. These published studies are background readings, not new releases.
JOURNAL ARTICLE · BACKGROUND
Contextual and combinatorial structure in sperm whale vocalisations
Pratyusha Sharma and colleagues · Nature Communications · 7 May 2024
The researchers identify contextual variation and combinations within sperm-whale click sequences, or codas. The findings concern the organisation of signals, rather than a translation of what whales are saying.
Connection to design: For interaction design, this raises the question of how to represent patterns and uncertainty without suggesting that meaning has already been established.
Limitations: Communication structure does not by itself establish semantic meaning or successful human–whale dialogue. This brief is based on the abstract and published summary, not an appraisal of the complete methods.
Reviewed: Abstract and published summary · background reading.
Imitation of Computer-Generated Sounds by Wild Atlantic Spotted Dolphins (Stenella frontalis)
Denise L. Herzing and colleagues · Animal Behavior and Cognition, 11(2), 136–166 · 2024
A wearable underwater interface was used in 58 sessions with wild Atlantic spotted dolphins during 2013–2016. The authors report immediate and delayed imitation of computer-generated sounds, but no signs of functional understanding of the object labels.
Connection to design: A concrete interface-design case: a detectable response to a signal is not the same as shared meaning. Evaluation must distinguish imitation, attention and understanding.
Limitations: Findings concern a particular community and interaction setting; they do not demonstrate translation of natural dolphin communication. The abstract was reviewed; the full methods and analyses have not been appraised.
PLOS ONE · 28 August 2024 · Background · Background reading
Dogs responded appropriately to play and outside words spoken or played through buttons, including buttons pressed by an unfamiliar researcher. Food-related responses did not show the same pattern.
2024 inaugural lecture and transcript · background introduction to ACI. The overview and selected project passages were reviewed as text; the recording was not watched. The practice idea is an editorial suggestion.