Animal-Machine Interaction Archives - Page 2 of 2

December 7, 2022December 7, 2022

Towards Exploring Perceptions of Dogs

The ACI2022 conference continued on the afternoon of December 7, 2022. “Paper Session 2: Recognising Animals & Animal Behaviour” began with a presentation by Anna Zamansky (University of Haifa). The title was “How Can Technology Support Dog Shelters in Behavioral Assessment: an Exploratory Study”. Her next talk was also about dogs: “Do AI Models ‘Like’ Black Dogs? Towards Exploring Perceptions of Dogs with Vision-Language Models”. She went into detail about OpenAI’s CLIP model, among other things. CLIP is a neural network which learns visual concepts from natural language supervision. She raised the question: “How can we use CLIP to investigate adoptability?” Hugo Jair Escalante (INAOE) then gave a presentation on the topic “Dog emotion recognition from images in the wild: DEBIw dataset and first results”. Emotion recognition using face recognition is still in its infancy with respect to animals, but impressive progress is already being made. The last presentation in the afternoon before the coffee break was “Detecting Canine Mastication: A Wearable Approach” by Charles Ramey (Georgia Institute of Technology). He raised the question: “Can automatic chewing detection measure how detection canines are coping with stress?”. More information on the conference via www.aciconf.org.

December 7, 2022December 7, 2022

About Animal-centered Design

ACI2022 continued on December 7 with Paper Sessions. Number 1 was “Designing for Human-Animal Relations”. Clara Mancini from The Open University gave a talk on the topic “Politicising Animal-Computer Interaction: an Approach to Political Engagement with Animal-Centred Design”. She is one of the pioneers in the discipline of animal-computer interaction. This was followed by Dirk van der Linden’s presentation “Animal-centered design needs dignity: a critical essay on ACI’s core concept”. The scientist from the Northumbria University referred to the Swiss law, which assumes the dignity of living beings – animals as well as plants, it should be added. Minori Tsuji from Future University Hakodate spoke about the “Investigation on Enhancement of the Sense of Life in Safari Park Online Tours with Animal Breathing Reproduction System”. Visitors can touch artifacts with different breathing frequencies. The final contribution in the morning came from Jennifer Cunha (Parrot Kindergarten) and Corinne Renguette (Indiana University-Purdue University). It was about “A Framework for Training Animals to Use Touchscreen Devices for Discrimination Tasks”. The scientists taught various animals, such as a parrot, a rat and a dog, how to use tablets. More information on the conference via www.aciconf.org.

December 7, 2022December 7, 2022

Exploring other Sensibilities

ACI2022 – the leading conference on animal-computer interaction – kicked off on December 5, 2022 at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne. After the workshop “Animal Centered Research beyond ACI: Exploring the Applicability of Animal Centered Principles to All Animal Research” was held on the first day, the workshop “Exploring other sensibilities – beyond human senses and aesthetics” was held on the second day. “This workshop aims to facilitate human participants to become more aware of other animals’ sensory and aesthetic sensibilities, raising points for discussion and future research within ACI. For all animals, being able to make sense of the environment is crucial in order to gain control and make informed choices, as well as to achieve competence in daily activities. Although human perception is limited by evolution, technology can enable us to perceive signals that may be meaningful for other species, thereby gaining insight and possibly empathy. Moreover, pursuing a multi-species perspective may foster inclusive approaches to design that aim to achieve a lighter environmental impact by taking into account the sensory experiences of other species.” (Website ACI2022) The workshop used innovative methods to achieve the goal. “We will offer participants a range of activities to challenge human senses and sense-making abilities, and then invite them to collaboratively design and test a system that incorporates some animal-centred sensory stimulation inspired by the activities previously undertaken.” (Website ACI2022) The participants mastered the tasks with great commitment and great pleasure. The entire conference program is available at www.aciconf.org/conference-program.

September 11, 2022September 11, 2022

Defining Tomorrow

Animal-computer interaction (ACI) “is a rapidly growing field, which focuses on the interaction between animals and computing-enabled technology and for which the International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction is the main convention venue” (Website ACI2022). ACI2022 will take place 5-8 December 2022, hosted by Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. The “Emerging Work” track reflects early stage efforts that either: “1) will be of interest to the ACI community and likely to generate insightful, instructional, and/or spirited discussion, and/or 2) is early enough that it could benefit greatly from community feedback on direction, design, methods, etc.” (Website ACI2022) In this track, the paper “A Face Recognition System for Bears: Protection for Animals and Humans in the Alps” by Oliver Bendel and Ali Yürekkirmaz was accepted. It fits very well with this year’s conference theme, “Defining Tomorrow”. “The theme acknowledges the rapid growth in technology for animals with new products coming onto the market, normalising the use of technology in many human-animal relationships, and asks: where should we go next?” (Website ACI2022)

August 9, 2022August 9, 2022

AI Ethics and Animals

The impact of robotics and artificial intelligence on non-human animals has been researched by Oliver Bendel for several years. He has made it his task to complement the discipline of animal-computer interaction, which was founded by Clara Mancini, with the discipline of animal-machine interaction. His most recent paper is “Passive, Active, and Proactive Systems and Machines for the Protection and Preservation of Animals and Animal Species”, published February 25, 2022, in Frontiers of Animal Science. Also becoming active in this field now is the famous ethicist Peter Singer. Together with his co-author Yip Fai Tse, he published the article “AI ethics: the case for including animals” in July 2022. From the abstract: “The ethics of artificial intelligence, or AI ethics, is a rapidly growing field, and rightly so. While the range of issues and groups of stakeholders concerned by the field of AI ethics is expanding, with speculation about whether it extends even to the machines themselves, there is a group of sentient beings who are also affected by AI, but are rarely mentioned within the field of AI ethics – the nonhuman animals. This paper seeks to explore the kinds of impact AI has on nonhuman animals, the severity of these impacts, and their moral implications. We hope that this paper will facilitate the development of a new field of philosophical and technical research regarding the impacts of AI on animals, namely, the ethics of AI as it affects nonhuman animals.” (Peter Singer and Yip Fai Tse 2022) In the text, the authors write: “Of the hundreds of AI ethics related papers we reviewed in this project, we only found four that concern the impacts of AI on animals, in a general way, and discuss the relevant ethical implications. They are: ‘Towards animal-friendly machines’ by Oliver Bendel, ‘AI Ethics and Value Alignment for Nonhuman Animals’ by Soenke Ziesche, ‘Moral Consideration of Nonhumans in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence’ by Andrea Owe and Seth Baum and ‘Animals and AI. The role of animals in AI research and application – An overview and ethical evaluation’ by Leonie Bossert and Thilo Hagendorf.” (Peter Singer and Yip Fai Tse 2022) The article will certainly give the young disciplines a further boost.

March 7, 2022March 7, 2022

Machines and Robots for Animal Welfare

On 25 February 2022, the article “Passive, Active, and Proactive Systems and Machines for the Protection and Preservation of Animals and Animal Species” by Oliver Bendel was published in Frontiers in Animal Science. From the abstract: “Digitalization and automation are expanding into many areas, resulting in more widespread use of partially and fully autonomous machines and robots. At the same time, environmental and other crises and disasters are on the rise, the world population is growing, and animals are losing their habitat. Increasingly, machines and robots such as agricultural vehicles, autonomous cars, robotic lawnmowers, or social robots are encountering animals of all kinds. In the process, the latter are injured or killed. Some machines can be designed so that this does not happen. Relevant disciplines and research areas briefly introduced here are machine ethics, social robotics, animal-machine interaction, and animal-computer interaction. In addition, animal welfare is important. Passive and active machines—as they are called in this review—are already appearing and help to observe and protect animals. Proactive machines may play a role in the future. They could use the possibilities of full automation and autonomy to save animals from suffering in agriculture or in the wild. During crises and disasters and in extensive nature reserves, they could observe, care for, and protect animals. The review provides initial considerations on active, passive, and proactive machines and how they can be used in an animal preservation context while bearing in mind recent technical and global developments.” The article is part of the research topic “Animal-Computer Interaction and Beyond: The Benefits of Animal-Centered Research and Design” and can be accessed at www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2022.834634/full.

January 29, 2022February 4, 2022

ANIFACE: Animal Face Recognition

Facial recognition is a problematic technology, especially when it is used to monitor people. However, it also has potential, for example with regard to the recognition of (individuals of) animals. Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel had announced the topic “ANIFACE: Animal Face Recognition” at the University of Applied Sciences FHNW in 2021 and left the choice whether it should be about wolves or bears. Ali Yürekkirmaz accepted the assignment and, in his final thesis, designed a system that could be used to identify individual bears in the Alps – without electronic collars or implanted microchips – and initiate appropriate measures. The idea is that appropriate camera and communication systems are available in certain areas. Once a bear is identified, it is determined whether it is considered harmless or dangerous. Then, the relevant agencies or directly the people concerned will be informed. Walkers can be warned about the recordings – but it is also technically possible to protect their privacy. In an expert discussion with a representative of KORA, the student was able to gain important insights into wildlife monitoring and specifically bear monitoring, and with a survey he was able to find out the attitude of parts of the population. Building on the work of Ali Yürekkirmaz, delivered in January 2022, an algorithm for bears could be developed and an ANIFACE system implemented and evaluated in the Alps. A video about the project is available here.

November 5, 2021December 7, 2021

AI at the Service of Animals and Biodiversity

“L’intelligence artificielle au service de l’animal et de la biodiversité” (“Artificial intelligence at the service of animals and biodiversity”) is the title of a webinar that will take place on 5 November 2021 from 10:30 – 12:00 via us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SJjYGx7qQt-FezEBprGMww. There are over 600 registered participants (professionals from the animal industry, health care and animal welfare, also entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, consultants, NGOs, associations). The webinar is for anyone interested in technologies with a positive impact on animals (wildlife, livestock, pets) and biodiversity. The goal is to take advantage of the opportunities that Artificial Intelligence offers alongside the many technological building blocks (Blockchain, IoT, etc.). This first webinar will be an “introduction” to AI in this specific application area. It will present use cases and be the starting point of a series of webinars. On the same day, there will be a Zoom conference from 1:30 to 2:30 pm. The title of the talk by Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel is “Towards Animal-friendly Machines”.

July 24, 2021July 25, 2023

Wildlife Conservation at a Garden Level

Sophie Lund Rasmussen and her co-authors published the interesting and enlightening article “Wildlife Conservation at a Garden Level: The Effect of Robotic Lawn Mowers on European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus)” in April 2021. In their “Simple Summary” they write: “Injured European hedgehogs are frequently admitted to hedgehog rehabilitation centres with different types of cuts and injuries. Although not rigorously quantified, a growing concern is that an increasing number of cases may have been caused by robotic lawn mowers. Research indicates that European hedgehogs are in decline. It is therefore important to identify and investigate the factors responsible for this decline to improve the conservation initiatives directed at this species. Because hedgehogs are increasingly associated with human habitation, it seems likely that numerous individuals will encounter several robotic lawn mowers during their lifetimes. Consequently, this study aimed to describe and quantify the effects of robotic lawn mowers on hedgehogs, and we tested 18 robotic lawn mowers in collision with dead hedgehogs. Some models caused extensive damage to the dead hedgehogs, but there were noteworthy differences in the degree of harm inflicted, with some consistently causing no damage. None of the robotic lawn mowers tested was able to detect the presence of dead, dependent juvenile hedgehogs, and no models could detect the hedgehog cadavers without physical interaction. We therefore encourage future collaboration with the manufacturers of robotic lawn mowers to improve the safety for hedgehogs and other garden wildlife species.” (Rasmussen et al. 2021) In 2019/2020, Oliver Bendel and his team developed the prototype HAPPY HEDGHEHOG. This robot lawnmower stops working as soon as it detects hedgehogs. A thermal recognition sensor and a camera with image recognition are used. The paper was presented at the AAAI Spring Symposia in March 2021.