Blogging Birds: Telling informative stories about the lives of birds from telemetric data

We introduce and evaluate Blogging Birds, a novel artificial intelligence program that generates creative texts to communicate telemetric data derived from satellite tags fitted to red kites as part of a species reintroduction programme. We address the substantial challenge of effectively communicating telemetric sensor data in real time by (a) enriching this data with meteorological and cartographic data, (b) codifying ecological knowledge to allow creative interpretation of the behaviour of individual animals with respect to such enriched data, and (c) dynamically generating informative and engaging data-driven blogs aimed at the general public. Our evaluation found that summarising environmentally-enriched satellite-tag data as informative, engaging and fluent blogs was highly challenging even for trained ecologists, and that the computer-generated blogs were preferred by readers, notably where movements of focal animals were wide-ranging. We conclude that Natural Language Generation, and specifically data-to-text technology, has come of age sufficiently to achieve more than just the factual summarisation of data for professional use, thus opening up new avenues for addressing societal challenges related to communicating data effectively and engaging the public with scientific research

Lessons learnt from the deployment of a semantic virtual research environment

The ourSpaces Virtual Research Environment makes use of Semantic Web technologies to create a platform to support multi-disciplinary research groups. This paper introduces the main semantic components of the system: a framework to capture the provenance of the research process, a collection of services to create and visualise metadata and a policy reasoning service. We also describe different approaches to authoring and accessing metadata within the VRE. Using evidence gathered from data provided by the users of the system we discuss the lessons learnt from deployment with three case study groups

Automated data analysis to rapidly derive and communicate ecological insights from satellite-tag data: A case study of reintroduced red kites

Analysis of satellite-telemetry data mostly occurs long after it has been collected, due to the time and effort needed to collate and interpret such material. Such delayed reporting does reduce the usefulness of such data for nature conservation when timely information about animal movements is required. To counter this problem we present a novel approach which combines automated analysis of satellite-telemetry data with rapid communication of insights derived from such data. A relatively simple algorithm (comprising speed of movement and turning angle calculated from fixes), allowed instantaneous detection of excursions away from settlement areas and automated calculation of home ranges on the remaining data Automating the detection of both excursions and home range calculations enabled us to disseminate ecological insights from satellite-tag data instantaneously through a dedicated web portal to inform conservationists and wider audiences. We recommend automated analysis, interpretation and communication of satellite tag and other ecological data to advance nature conservation research and practice

Tag2Blog: Narrative Generation from Satellite Tag Data

The aim of the Tag2Blog system is to bring satellite tagged wild animals “to life ” through narratives that place their movements in an ecological context. Our motivation is to use such automatically generated texts to enhance public engagement with a specific species reintroduction programme, although the protocols developed here can be applied to any animal or other movement study that involves signal data from tags. We are working with one of the largest nature conservation charities in Europe in this regard, focusing on a single species, the red kite. We describe a system that interprets a sequence of locational fixes obtained from a satellite tagged individual, and constructs a story around its use of the landscape.