3,471 research outputs found
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
The Emerging Nature of Participation in Multispecies Interaction Design
Interactive technology has become integral part of daily life for both humans and animals, with animals often interacting with technologized environments on behalf of humans. For some, animals' participation in the design process is essential to design technology that can adequately support their activities. For others, animals' inability to understand and control design activities inevitably stands in the way of multispecies participatory practices. Here, we consider the essential elements of participation within interspecies interactions and illustrate its emergence, in spite of contextual constraints and asymmetries. To move beyond anthropomorphic notions of participation, and consequent anthropocentric practices, we propose a broader participatory model based on indexical semiosis, volition and choice; and we highlight dimensions that could define inclusive participatory practices more resilient to the diversity of understandings and goals among part-taking agents, and better able to account for the contribution of diverse, multispecies agents in interaction design and beyond
The Role of Ethological Observation for Measuring Animal Reactions to Biotelemetry Devices
This paper presents a methodological approach used to assess the wearability of biotelemetry devices in animals. A detailed protocol to gather quantitative and qualitative ethological observations was adapted and tested in an experimental study of 13 cat participants wearing two different GPS devices. The aim was twofold: firstly, to ascertain the potential interference generated by the devices on the animal body and behavior by quantifying and characterizing it; secondly, to individuate device features potentially responsible for the influence registered, and establish design requirements. This research contributes towards the development of a framework for evaluating the design of wearer-centered biotelemetry interventions for animals, consistent with values advocated by Animal- Computer Interaction researchers
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
Smart Computing and Sensing Technologies for Animal Welfare: A Systematic Review
Animals play a profoundly important and intricate role in our lives today.
Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years, but they now work
closely with us to assist the disabled, and in combat and search and rescue
situations. Farm animals are a critical part of the global food supply chain,
and there is increasing consumer interest in organically fed and humanely
raised livestock, and how it impacts our health and environmental footprint.
Wild animals are threatened with extinction by human induced factors, and
shrinking and compromised habitat. This review sets the goal to systematically
survey the existing literature in smart computing and sensing technologies for
domestic, farm and wild animal welfare. We use the notion of \emph{animal
welfare} in broad terms, to review the technologies for assessing whether
animals are healthy, free of pain and suffering, and also positively stimulated
in their environment. Also the notion of \emph{smart computing and sensing} is
used in broad terms, to refer to computing and sensing systems that are not
isolated but interconnected with communication networks, and capable of remote
data collection, processing, exchange and analysis. We review smart
technologies for domestic animals, indoor and outdoor animal farming, as well
as animals in the wild and zoos. The findings of this review are expected to
motivate future research and contribute to data, information and communication
management as well as policy for animal welfare
Recommended from our members
Animal-Computer Interaction: a Manifesto (2011) and sections from Towards an Animal-Centred Ethics for Animal-Computer Interaction (2016)
Reprint of journal article "Animal-Computer Interaction: a Manifesto" (2011) and of sections of journal article "Towards an Animal-Centred Ethics for Animal-Computer Interaction" (2016
Recommended from our members
Re-centering multispecies practices: a canine interface for cancer detection dogs
We report on participatory design research where interaction designers, and canine behavioral specialists, together with their cancer detection dogs, teamed up to better support the dogs’ life-saving work. We discuss interspecies communication challenges in cancer detection training, requiring the dogs to use human signaling conventions that perturb their detection work. We describe our effort to develop a technology that could resolve those challenges, and how in the process our design focus gradually shifted from a human-centered to a canine-centered interaction model. The resulting interface, based on honest signaling, re-centers cancer detection practices on the dogs themselves, enabling them to better express their potential as cancer detection workers; it also provides a model for re-thinking human-computer interactions
Designing specialized technology to aid assistance dogs
Interest is growing in studying canine and human relationships, especially working canines and their role in society. Interest is also growing in designing informed, user centered interactive technologies for animals. Combining these two themes, my doctoral research looks at creating user-centered, ethnographically informed designs for working animals (working dogs). The work examines existing design methodologies and posits new ones to contribute to a wider Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) framework to design for and with animal users. Here I review the initial findings of the on-going work to develop an emergency alert alarm for assistance dog use
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
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