Tag: Animal-Computer Interaction

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Award for ACI Paper

“The Animal Whisperer Project” by Oliver Bendel (FHNW School of Business) and Nick Zbinden (FHNW School of Business) won the Honourable Mention Short Paper Award at the 2024 ACI Conference. From the abstract: “Generative AI has become widespread since 2022. Technical advancements have resulted in multimodal large language models and other AI models that generate, analyze, and evaluate texts, images, and sounds. Such capabilities can be helpful in encounters between humans and animals. For example, apps with generative AI on a smartphone can be used to assess the body language and behavior of animals – e.g., during a walk or hike – and provide a recommendation for human behavior. It is often useful to take into account the animal’s environment and situation. The apps can help people to avert approaches and attacks, and thus also protect animals. In ‘The Animal Whisperer Project’, three apps were developed as prototypes based on the multimodal large language model GPT-4 from OpenAI from the beginning to mid-2024. Three specific GPTs resulted: the Cow Whisperer, the Horse Whisperer, and the Dog Whisperer. All three showed impressive capabilities after the first prompt engineering. These were improved by implementing information from expert interviews and adding labeled images of animals and other materials. AI-based apps for interpreting body language, behavior, and the overall situation can apparently be created today, without much effort, in a low-budget project. However, turning them into products would certainly raise questions, such as liability in the event of accidents.” The proceedings are available here.

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Awards at ACI ’24

The “Proceedings of the International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction 2024” were published at the end of November 2024, a few days before the conference in Glasgow. The following papers received awards: “Wireless Tension Sensors for Characterizing Dog Frailty in Veterinary Settings” by Colt Nichols (North Carolina State University), Yifan Wu (North Carolina State University), Alper Bozkurt, David Roberts (North Carolina State University) and Margaret Gruen (North Carolina State University): Best Paper Award; “Communication Functions in Speech Board Use by a Goffin’s Cockatoo: Implications for Research and Design” by Jennifer Cunha (Indiana University), Corinne Renguette (Perdue University), Lily Stella (Indiana University) and Clara Mancini (The Open University): Honourable Mention Award; “Surveying The Extent of Demographic Reporting of Animal Participants in ACI Research” by Lena Ashooh (Harvard University), Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas (University of Glasgow) and Rebecca Kleinberger (Northeastern University): Honourable Mention Award; “Shelling Out the Fun: Quantifying Otter Interactions with Instrumented Enrichment Objects” by Charles Ramey (Georgia Institute of Technology), Jason Jones (Georgia Aquarium), Kristen Hannigan (Georgia Aquarium), Elizabeth Sadtler (Georgia Aquarium), Jennifer Odell (Georgia Aquarium), Thad Starner (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Melody Jackson (Georgia Institute of Technology): Best Short Paper Award; “The Animal Whisperer Project” by Oliver Bendel (FHNW School of Business) and Nick Zbinden (FHNW School of Business): Honourable Mention Short Paper Award.

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When Animals Meet Machines

The manuscript of the book “Non-Human Animals, Ethics and Engineering” (alternative title “Animals, Ethics and Engineering”) was sent to the publisher Jenny Stanford in May 2024. It contains 16 chapters on this topic, including by Clara Mancini (“Animal-Centered Technology and Sustainable Development”), Fiona French (“Designing and Crafting Systems for Non-Human Animals”), and Leonie Bossert together with Thilo Hagendorff (“Animals and AI: The Role of Animals in AI Research and Application”). In “An Investigation into the Encounter Between Social Robots and Animals” (Chapter 12), Oliver Bendel “delves into the evolving landscape of social robots designed to interact with animals, dissecting the intricate dynamics of these interactions and their ethical ramifications” (Information from the editors). The philosopher of technology also presents his own projects, such as concepts and prototypes of animal-friendly machines, developed in the context of machine ethics, animal-machine interaction, and social robotics. The editors are Rosalyn W. Berne and Madeline A. Kibler from the University of Virginia. The book is scheduled for publication in late summer or fall 2024.

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“The Animal Whisperer” Project Starts

On March 18, 2024, the kick-off meeting for the project “The Animal Whisperer” took place at the FHNW School of Business. It was initiated by Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, who has been working on animal-computer interaction and animal-machine interaction for many years. Nick Zbinden, a student of business information systems, has been recruited to work on the project. As part of his final thesis, he will develop three GPT-4-based applications that can be used to analyze the body language and environment of cows, horses and dogs. The aim is to avert danger to humans and animals. For example, a hiker can receive a recommendation on their smartphone not to cross a pasture if a mother cow and her calves are present. All they have to do is call up the application and take a photo of the area. Nick Zbinden will evaluate literature and conduct several expert interviews to find out more about the situation of farm and domestic animals and their behavior. He will demonstrate the possibilities, but also the limitations of multimodal language models in this context. The results will be available in August 2024 (Image: DALL-E 3).

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Artificial Intelligence & Animals

The online event “Artificial Intelligence & Animals” will take place on 16 September 2023. “AI experts and attorneys will discuss the intersection of AI and animals in this UIA Animal Law Commission and GW Animal Law webinar” (Website Eventbrite) Speakers are Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel (FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland), Yip Fai Tse (University Center for Human Values, Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University), and Sam Tucker (CEO VegCatalyst, AI-Powered Marketing, Melbourne). Panelists are Ian McDougall (Executive Vice President and General Counsel, LexisNexis London), Jamie McLaughlin (Animal Law Commission Vice President, UIA), and Joan Schaffner (Associate Professor of Law, George Washington University). Oliver Bendel “has been thinking on animal ethics since the 1980s and on information and machine ethics since the 1990s”. “Since 2012, he has been systematically researching machine ethics, combining it with animal ethics and animal welfare. With his changing teams, he develops animal-friendly robots and AI systems.” (Website Eventbrite)

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ACI 2023 in North Carolina

The Tenth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction will be held December 4-8, 2023, in Raleigh, North Carolina, hosted by North Carolina State University. “ACI is the leading International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction. It is a highly multidisciplinary event drawing researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to share and discuss work and topics related to the research and design of computing-enabled and interactive technology for and with animals.” (Website ACI) The Ninth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction was held in Newcastle upon Tyne at the end of 2022. Also this year the organizers are interested in a variety of topics in animal-computer interaction and animal-machine interaction, as the call for papers (CfP) reveals: “Submissions might address topics such as: the role of technology in shaping human-animal relationships; studies and/or analysis of large-scale technology for animal deployments; considerations on the wider context of technology for animal use; methods and reflections on studying the next generation of technology for animals; or how to conduct ACI research in a world where commercial design and deployment of technology for animals outpaces academic thought.” (Website ACI) The CfP can be accessed at www.aciconf.org/aci2023.

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ACI 2022 Proccedings

The ACI took place from 5 to 8 December 2022 in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the world’s leading conference on animal-computer interaction. The proceedings were published in the ACM Library on March 30, 2023. They include the paper “A Face Recognition System for Bears: Protection for Animals and Humans in the Alps” by Oliver Bendel and Ali Yürekkirmaz. From the abstract: “Face recognition, in the sense of identifying people, is controversial from a legal, social, and ethical perspective. In particular, opposition has been expressed to its use in public spaces for mass surveillance purposes. Face recognition in animals, by contrast, seems to be uncontroversial from a social and ethical point of view and could even have potential for animal welfare and protection. This paper explores how face recognition for bears (understood here as brown bears) in the Alps could be implemented within a system that would help animals as well as humans. It sets out the advantages and disadvantages of wildlife cameras, ground robots, and camera drones that would be linked to artificial intelligence. Based on this, the authors make a proposal for deployment. They favour a three-stage plan that first deploys fixed cameras and then incorporates camera drones and ground robots. These are all connected to a control centre that assesses images and developments and intervenes as needed. The paper then discusses social and ethical, technical and scientific, and economic and structural perspectives. In conclusion, it considers what could happen in the future in this context.” The proceedings can be accessed via dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3565995.

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Minding Animals 2024

After an hiatus of six years, Minding Animals will return, with a conference tentatively scheduled to be held 11 – 17 July, 2024. This was announced by the organizers in a message dated December 19, 2022. “Just like the postponed 2021 conference, Minding Animals 5 (MAC5) will be hosted by the Centre for Compassionate Conservation (CfCC) in the Transdisciplinary School at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).” (Message from Minding Animals International) The organizers refer to the Minding Animals Bulletin 53 regarding the vision of the conference and the preparation of the authors. “We believe that the greatest threat posed to the planet, to all planetary life, human or nonhuman animal, plant or otherwise, including the current pandemic, is the intersection of animal agriculture and the climate crisis. Hence, the urgency and criticality of climate as the key theme.” (Minding Animals Bulletin 53) Possible subtopics include “The biodiversity crisis and climate change”, “Rewilding and compassionate conservation”, “The animal industrial complex”, “Animals, the circular economy and sustainable food systems”, and “Animals in development and food sovereignty”.

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Wearables for Sled Dogs

On the last day of the ACI Conference (December 8, 2022), “Session 5: Sensors & Signals, Part II: Electric Boogaloo” started after the lunch break. Carlos Alberto Aguilar-Lazcano (CICESE-UT3) gave a talk on the topic “Towards a monitoring and emergency alarm system activated by the barking of assistant dogs”. The next presentation was “WAG’D: Towards a Wearable Activity and Gait Detection Monitor for Sled Dogs” by Arianna Mastali (Georgia Institute of Technology). According to her, studies have shown orthopedic injuries to be most common among sled dogs. These like to move very much, but repeatedly exceed their capabilities. To solve this problem, the team has developed a technical solution, a special wearable, with the help of which data on the condition of the animals are generated. “Spatial and Temporal Analytic Pipeline for Evaluation of Potential Guide Dogs Using Location and Behavior Data” was the title of the next talk, given by David L. Roberts (North Carolina State University), followed by “Comparing Accelerometry and Computer Vision Sensing Modalities for High-Resolution Canine Tail Wagging Interpretation”, given by Devon Martin (North Carolina State University). More information on the conference via www.aciconf.org/aci2022.

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Talking Eggs

After the keynote on the morning of December 8, 2022, ACI2020 continued with “Paper Session 4: Sensors & Signals, Part I: Origin Stories”. David L. Roberts (North Carolina State University) presented on “Motion-Resilient ECG Signal Reconstruction from a Wearable IMU through Attention Mechanism and Contrastive Learning”. The next talk, “TamagoPhone: A framework for augmenting artificial incubators to enable vocal interaction between bird parents and eggs”, was given by Rebecca Kleinberger (Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Northeastern University). The starting point of her research was that some birds have pre-hatching vocal communication. The last presentation before the lunch break that was given online was “Simultaneous Contact-Free Physiological Sensing of Human Heart Rate and Canine Breathing Rate for Animal Assisted Interactions: Experimental and Analytical Approaches” by Timothy Holder and Mushfiqur Rahman (North Carolina State University). More information on the conference via www.aciconf.org/aci2022.