The technologies we expose to animals, and the new technologies being developed for animals within the field of Animal Computer Interaction (ACI)

1. Presented By:
•Roohana Rehmat
1

2.  The technologies we expose to animals, and the
new technologies being developed for animals
within the field of Animal Computer Interaction
(ACI)
 Search and Rescue (SAR) is a critical component
of disaster recovery efforts
 Our goal is to help enable SAR dog and handler
teams to work together more effectively
 We develop a two-part system consisting of a
wearable computer interface for working SAR
dogs that communicates with their handler via a
mobile application. Additionally, we discuss the
system around a heuristic framework that
includes dogs as active participants.
2

3.  Physical characteristics of animals have long been
studied within animal biology sciences
 FIDO project is to research the fundamental
aspects of wearable technologies to support
communication from working dogs to their
handlers
 computer-aided systems that could allow humans
and dogs to work together more transparently and
effectively while conducting Search and Rescue
(SAR) missions
 Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) is an emerging
discipline aiming to develop user-centric
interactions between animals and technology.
3

4.  One of the main initial aims for the study of
Animal Computer Interaction (ACI) has been
“to understand the interaction between
animals and computing technology
 research into how to make systems more
suitable for animals (comfortable), and often
seeking ways to monitor health (healthy and
nourished).
4

5.  ANIMAL FOR SAR USING VARIABLE TECHNOLOGY:
• Mountain/wilderness rescue
• Ground search and rescue
• Urban search and rescue in cities (USAR)
• Combat search and rescue on the battlefield
 CURRENT TECHNOLOGY USE:
 Koredoko - provides the GPS coordinates from a picture
taken on a cell phone. If a person is lost, but has a
cellphone, they take a picture and text it to law
enforcement. The image is opened with Koredoko and it
opens a Google map with the location of where the photo
was taken, with latitude and longitude coordinates, along
with additional useful information.
 Map Tools: coordinate system conversion between
latitude/longitude, Universal Transverse Mercator, and
National Geodetic Survey coordinates.
 Microsoft OneNote: note-taking and freehand drawing
 Evernote: note taking, photo integration into a document
 Google maps: location identification and directions to a
search area, looking at past satellite views of an area
5

6.  Task Environment:
 Disaster dogs are used to locate victims of
earthquakes, landslides, building collapses etc.
 SAR dogs can be used in urban environments, such
as hospitals, factories, and airports
 Wind:
 The direction of the wind is also an important factor
in determining search plans. Teams typically start
searches across the wind to allow dogs to perceive
the scent as it's blowing
 Weather:
 Weather is an important factor that influences scent
travel. Scent molecules are typically denser than
air, but less dense than water. As a result,
temperature can result in “lifting and dropping” the
scent 6

7.  An active search and
rescue could have
many different
outcomes depending
on many different
variables. We have
produced a complete
task map too detailed
to be outlined here,
however, we will
present a typical
search and rescue
scenario.
7

8.  In parallel to the rise in interest in human brain training,
recently there has been a surge of interest in cognitive
training and enrichment for dogs, which can be
implemented by dog owners in the home environment.
8

9.  DOG
ACTIVATION:
 During a typical
SAR scenario, the
working dog is
trained to alert
the handler that
he has found
something of
interest. In this
case, the dog
would bite the
capacitive sensor
at his side
9

10.  The human interface for monitoring the dog’s
location and activities is an application that
runs on an Android platform.
 The application works on all GPS-enabled
Android cell phones and tablets.
 But currently requires a device that can pick
up cellular service while in the field.
 The SAR handler application (Figure 8 & 9)
shows the location of the dog with respect to
the handler’s location on a map
10

11. 11
SAR
working
wearable
computer
vest

12. 12
SAR Handler
Interface
showing dog
location
SAR Handler
Interface
showing a
dog
activation

13.  The touch screen apparatus consists of a
laptop, a 15” TFT computer monitor that is
mounted behind an infrared touch frame, and
a feeding device that distributes treats
(Figure 1).
13

14. 14

15.  Here we will focus on the preliminary steps
necessary to train a dog to interact with the
touchscreen. The dog receives a training programme
consisting of several phases of progressive complexity
 The goal of the auto-shaping and pre-training
procedures is to familiarize dogs with the
touchscreen apparatus and the food dispenser (Phase
1)
 to teach them to touch a stimulus on the screen, first
at a fixed location (Phase 2)
 then at varying locations (Phase 3)
 Then finally, to select a picture from two or more to
obtain a reward (discrimination training, Phase 4).
 Only then can the dogs start to solve more difficult
cognitive tasks, which can further examine their
learning, memory and logical reasoning skills.15

16. 16
Apps for
Apes: using
touch screen

17. 17

18.  Animals have operated machines since the
time of Skinner, Animal-Computer Interfaces
(ACI) are relatively new. Recently, there has
been interesting work on ‘‘interspecies
interaction,’’ including games, remote moni-
toring, and remote interaction.
 Games such as ‘‘Cat Cat Revolution’’ and
‘‘Feline Fun Park’’ allow humans to play with
cats mediated by computing. The ‘‘Canine
Amusement and Training’’ (CAT) system
focuses on games as a way to teach humans
to train and interact with dogs.
18

19.  Providing technology-enhanced enrichment
for an Asian elephant so that she can
exercise choice and control[1]
 Life with robots and other non-humans:
between animals and technology[2]
 Working dogs have improved the lives of
thousands of people throughout history[3]
 technologies developed for (non-human)
animals. Technologies that are analyzed
include tangible and physical, hepatic and
wearable, olfactory, screen technology and
tracking systems[4]
 SAR dogs that communicates with their
handler via a mobile application[5]
19

20.  Gaps were observed within tangible and
physical systems to investigate new training
paradigms so animals can use systems more
efficiently.
20
 might also be an opportunity to combine
some of Bozkurt’s wearable dog and
environmental monitoring and remote
human to dog communication.
 Combined with newer data on a dog’s
ability to feel and understand hepatic
input

21. Express our gratitude to the
National Science Foundation for
supporting this work
And Ms. Nazish Nouman for their
support on research productivity.
Thanks
21