Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI): changing perspective on HCI, participation and sustainability

In the spirit of this year’s conference theme ‘changing perspectives’, this paper invites the CHI community to glance at interaction design through the lense of Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI). In particular, I argue that such a perspective could have at least three benefits: strengthening HCI as a discipline; broadening participation in Interaction Design; and supporting CHI’s commitment to sustainability. I make the case that, far from being a niche research area, ACI is directly relevant to and even encompasses HCI. Thus ACI research firmly belongs at CHI

HABIT: Horse Automated Behaviour Identification Tool: a position paper

HABIT (Horse Automated Behaviour Identification Tool) is an Animal Computer Interaction (ACI) project, on the interdisciplinary boundary between equitation science and computer science. HABIT will automate the analysis and recognition of horse-to-horse and horse-to-human behaviours, as observed in unconstrained / ad-hoc video. A horse-to-horse dyad video dataset will be compiled, illustrating exemplar behaviours. Behavioural signatures will be manually identified from video. Next, a system will be developed and trained to recognise these signatures. The tool will then be evaluated, when applied to both horse-to-horse and horse-to-human video clips. In the study of animal behaviour, an ‘ethogram’ is a set of comprehensive descriptions of the characteristic behaviour patterns of a species. HABIT is potentially the first step towards the ‘automated ethogram’. This project provides a welfare-orientated approach to evaluating horse behaviours. When horses are handled, trained or ridden, HABIT will help ensure that these experiences occur within the natural repertoire of equine behaviours. There is also scope to engage and educate the public about horse behaviours; both for general interest and to raise welfare-awareness. Additionally, automation could play an important methodological role in animal-centred design by reducing human biases during the requirements and evaluation processes

HABIT: Horse Automated Behaviour Identification Tool: a position paper

HABIT (Horse Automated Behaviour Identification Tool) is an Animal Computer Interaction (ACI) project, on the interdisciplinary boundary between equitation science and computer science. HABIT will automate the analysis and recognition of horse-to-horse and horse-to-human behaviours, as observed in unconstrained / ad-hoc video. A horse-to-horse dyad video dataset will be compiled, illustrating exemplar behaviours. Behavioural signatures will be manually identified from video. Next, a system will be developed and trained to recognise these signatures. The tool will then be evaluated, when applied to both horse-to-horse and horse-to-human video clips. In the study of animal behaviour, an ‘ethogram’ is a set of comprehensive descriptions of the characteristic behaviour patterns of a species. HABIT is potentially the first step towards the ‘automated ethogram’. This project provides a welfare-orientated approach to evaluating horse behaviours. When horses are handled, trained or ridden, HABIT will help ensure that these experiences occur within the natural repertoire of equine behaviours. There is also scope to engage and educate the public about horse behaviours; both for general interest and to raise welfare-awareness. Additionally, automation could play an important methodological role in animal-centred design by reducing human biases during the requirements and evaluation processes

Designing Interactive Toys for Elephants

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

Beyond the limits of digital interaction: should animals play with interactive environments?

Our digital world evolves towards ubiquitous and intuitive scenarios, filled with interconnected and transparent computing devices which ease our daily activities. We have approached this evolution of technology in a strictly human-centric manner. There are, however, plenty of species, among them our pets, which could also profit from these technological advances. A new field in Computer Science, called Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI), aims at filling this technological gap by developing systems and interfaces specifically designed for animals. This paper envisions how ACI could be extended to enhance the most natural animal behavior: play. This work explains how interactive environments could become playful scenarios where animals enjoy, learn and interact with technology, improving their wellbeingThis work is partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the National R&D&I Program within the project CreateWorlds (TIN2010-20488). The work of Patricia Pons is supported by an FPU fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (FPU13/03831). It also received support from a postdoctoral fellowship within the VALi+d Program of the Conselleria d’Educació, Cultura I Esport (Generalitat Valenciana) awarded to Alejandro Catalá (APOSTD/2013/013). We also thank the Valencian Society for the Protection of Animals and Plants (SVPAP) for their cooperation.Pons Tomás, P.; Jaén Martínez, FJ.; Catalá Bolós, A. (2015). Beyond the limits of digital interaction: should animals play with interactive environments?. ACM. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/65361

Empowering assistance dogs: an alarm interface for canine use

This paper explores the intersection of assistance dog welfare and intelligent systems with a technological intervention in the form of an emergency canine alert system. We make the case that assistance dog welfare can be affected by the welfare of their human handlers, and examine the need for a canine alert system that enables the dog to take control over a potentially distressing situation thus improving assistance dog welfare. We focus on one specific subset of assistance dogs, the Diabetes Alert Dog, who are trained to warn their diabetic handlers of dangerously low or high blood sugar levels

Towards <i>Smart Kennels</i> for Supporting Canine Welfare: an Early Exploration of Requirements

We present the findings of an early requirements elicitation study for a smart kennel supporting canine welfare. We discuss unique challenges posed by the kennel environment in terms of design outcomes and research processes

Animal-Computer Interaction: the emergence of a discipline

In this editorial to the IJHCS Special Issue on Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI), we provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in this emerging field, outlining the main scientific interests of its developing community, in a broader cultural context of evolving human-animal relations. We summarise the core aims proposed for the development of ACI as a discipline, discussing the challenges these pose and how ACI researchers are trying to address them. We then introduce the contributions to the Special Issue, showing how they illustrate some of the key issues that characterise the current state-of-the-art in ACI, and finally reflect on how the journey ahead towards developing an ACI discipline could be undertaken

Canine-centered interface design: supporting the work of diabetes alert dogs

Many people with Diabetes live with the continuous threat of hypoglycaemic attacks and the danger of going into coma. Diabetic Alert Dogs are trained to detect the onset of an attack before the human handler they are paired with deteriorates, giving them time to take action. We investigated requirements for designing an alert system allowing dogs to remotely call for help when their human falls unconscious before being able to react to an alert. Through a multispecies ethnographic approach we focus on teasing out the requirements for a physical canine user interface, involving both dogs, their handlers and trainers in the design. We discuss tensions between the requirements for the canine and the human users, argue the need for increased sensitivity towards the needs of individual dogs that goes beyond breed specific physical characteristics and reflect on how we can move from designing for dogs to designing with dogs

Developing a depth-based tracking systems for interactive playful environments with animals

© ACM 2015. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in ACM. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (p. 59). http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2832932.2837007.[EN] Digital games for animals within Animal Computer Interaction are usually single-device oriented, however richer interactions could be delivered by considering multimodal environments and expanding the number of technological elements involved. In these playful ecosystems, animals could be either alone or accompanied by human beings, but in both cases the system should react properly to the interactions of all the players, creating more engaging and natural games. Technologically-mediated playful scenarios for animals will therefore require contextual information about the game participants, such as their location or body posture, in order to suitably adapt the system reactions. This paper presents a depth-based tracking system for cats capable of detecting their location, body posture and field of view. The proposed system could also be extended to locate and detect human gestures and track small robots, becoming a promising component in the creation of intelligent interspecies playful environments.Work supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and funded by the EDRF-FEDER (TIN2014-60077-R). The work of Patricia Pons has been supported by a national grant from the Spanish MECD (FPU13/03831). Alejandro Catalá also received support from a VALi+d fellowship from the GVA (APOSTD/2013/013). 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