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Designing Interactive Toys for Elephants
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How to cite:
French, Fiona; Mancini, Clara and Sharp, Helen (2015). Designing Interactive Toys for Elephants. In: CHI
PLAY ’15: Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, ACM pp. 523–528.
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http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1145/2793107.2810327
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Designing Interactive Toys
for Elephants
Abstract
This research is investigating the potential for designing
digital toys and games as playful cognitive enrichment
activities for captive elephants. The new field of Animal
Computer Interaction is exploring a range of
approaches to the problem of designing user-centred
systems for animals and this investigation into devices
for elephants aims to directly contribute towards a
methodological approach for designing smart and
playful enrichment for all species.
Author Keywords
Animal Computer Interaction; toy design; game
design; elephant; environmental enrichment;
participatory design; play
ACM Classification Keywords
H.5.2. User interfaces.
Introduction
Humans currently maintain animals in captivity in a
variety of contexts. None of these animals are
independent any more, which means that the
responsibility for their welfare falls to the humans who
keep them.
The contemporary point of view is that the same
conditions of welfare apply to all members of a species,
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CHI PLAY 2015, October 03-07, 2015, London, United Kingdom.
ACM 978-1-4503-3466-2/15/10.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2793107.2810327
Fiona French
Faculty of Life Sciences and Computing
London Metropolitan University
166-220 Holloway Road, London
f.french@londonmet.ac.uk
Clara Mancini
Computing and Communications Department
The Open University
Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
c.mancini@open.ac.uk
Helen Sharp
Computing and Communications Department
The Open University
Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
h.sharp@open.ac.uk
whether domesticated (pets, stray, farmed, laboratory)
or wild (in zoos, sanctuaries and labs or living freely as
part of the natural world). However, the case of
elephants is emblematic of how these captive animals
may face a number of welfare challenges [4], including
lack of exercise and stimulation, due to space
restrictions, limited numbers of conspecifics and the
ready availability of food. In general, they are not
required to use their brains to full capacity, which can
lead to a range of psychological and physiological
problems, such as boredom and associated stress.
Young [2] explains that the provision of environmental
enrichment improves animal welfare in two ways - it
empowers an animal by allowing it to express control
over its environment and it reduces the animal’s level
of fear by giving it appropriate stimulation. These
factors help to maintain the animal in good physical
and psychological health. Similarly, delivering
enrichment to a species has potential for empowering
the care-giver, by providing opportunities to
investigate, design and evaluate the interventions.
This research in the area of Animal Computer
Interaction [1] is exploring the potential for using
technology to support the delivery of novel
environmental enrichment experiences for captive
elephants. The focus of the interventions is to
stimulate playful behavior, because there is consensus
that this decreases stress levels and is good for welfare
[3].
Technology Mediated Play
We humans have come to rely on technology to provide
us with much of our modern stimulation. Living in
urban environments with limited freedom and space,
but arguably with more recreational time than our
ancestors, we have adapted to use digital forms of
entertainment in addition to our traditional cultural
forms of storytelling, sports, music, dance, art and
playing games.
Recent developments have seen the gap between toys
and games grow smaller, with a new trend emerging
towards “enhanced” toys, meaning that they include
embedded technology that links them to a computer
application and potentially a network. Some of these
toys inhibit free play because their integration with a
formal system imposes a game-like structure on the
player. Computer games, meanwhile, are becoming
less dependent on traditional screens and peripherals
as novel interfaces enable different kinds of
interactivity in different locations.
While it may be difficult to predict how an animal will
behave if given an opportunity to interact with a playful
device that has a set of rules (logic) underpinning its
functionality, the ‘fusion’ between toy and game
modalities might make this type of playful stimulation
more accessible to non-human animals by promoting
less abstract, yet structured forms of engagement. In
this respect, current trends present new opportunities.
Indeed, there has already been some research into
ways of utilizing technology to create new enrichment
experiences for captive animals [4], including concepts
that have focused on playful technology [5] [6], but the
field is still emerging with the potential for further
insights to be drawn.
Play in Animals
What: Play in animals is easy
to recognise, but challenging
to define because is it such a
fluid and transient behaviour
with no immediately obvious
cause (Bekoff and Byers,
1998; Sendova-Franks and
Scott, 2012).
Why: Current research
favours the idea that play
prepares animals for their
future lives by refining the
control that the prefrontal
cortex has over other parts of
the brain, allowing the animal
to become more adaptable
(Pellis et al 2014).
Who: People used to believe
that only humans, primates
and dogs were capable of
play, but research has shown
that many mammals, some
reptiles and some fish also
exhibit this kind of behaviour
(Burghardt, 2005).
Types: There are three
recognised types of play
behaviour in non-human
animals - social play,
locomotor play and object
play (Burghardt in Bekoff and
Byers, 1998).
Figure
sketch
Figure
sketch
1: Example conce
p
for interactive sho
w
2: Example conce
p
for acoustic toy
Enric
h
Eleph
loco
m
additi
eleph
a
capti
v
ways
Eleph
persp
perce
from
h
chara
extre
m
of ele
com
m
world
eleph
a
in or
d
is abl
e
as w
e
most
the pl
eleph
a
com
m
To ad
pron
g
what
using
To thi
revie
w
the w
com
m
dexte
an et
h
p
t
w
er
p
t
h
ment for
Elepha
n
a
nts are known t
o
m
otor, object and
s
on, because the l
i
a
nts is very diffe
r
v
e animals, zooke
e
to enrich their el
e
a
nts pose an inte
r
ective of interacti
ive and interact
w
h
umans. Additio
n
cteristics, such a
s
m
e constraints o
n
phant seem to us
m
unicating with e
a
,
and these are t
h
a
nt behaviour th
a
d
er to develop an
e
to use. What w
e
ll as possible to
e
important skill fo
r
ayers).” [10] Ho
w
a
nt, given the ch
a
m
unication barrier
s
dress these chall
e
ed approach. Fir
s
might be feasible
controls and rec
e
s end, we have c
o
w
about their nat
u
orld, for example
m
unication (prefer
rity (physical abil
h
nographic study
n
ts
o
be playful, and
d
s
ocial play all the
i
i
festyle enjoyed
b
r
ent from the exp
e
e
pers are always
e
phants’ enclosur
e
r
esting challenge
on design, becau
s
w
ith the world ver
y
n
ally, their physic
a
s
size and weight,
n
the design proc
e
e the same moda
a
ch other and int
e
h
e key practical a
s
a
t designers need
interactive toy th
a
ould an elephant
e
ngage with? Sch
r
a game designe
r
w
is it possible to
a
llenges that inte
r
s
pose for design
e
e
nges we have ta
k
s
tly, we wanted t
o
for an elephant
w
e
iving feedback fr
o
o
nducted an exte
n
u
ral behavior and
in terms of lifest
y
red modes of int
e
ities). Secondly,
w
in order to appre
c
d
emonstrate
i
r lives [9]. In
b
y wild
e
rience of
looking for new
e
s.
from the
s
e they
y
differently
a
l
impose
e
ss. All species
lities for
e
racting with the
s
pects of
to understand
a
t an elephant
find engaging
ell states: “The
r
is listening (to
listen to an
r
-species
e
rs?
k
en a multi-
o
understand
w
ith regard to
o
m a device.
n
sive literature
interaction with
y
le,
e
raction) and
w
e undertook
c
iate the
specific e
n
captive el
e
terms of
h
Thirdly, w
e
in the des
i
enabling t
h
To this eff
concepts
a
Toy Des
i
There are
of the toy
two aspec
t
serves as
architectu
r
inherent i
n
far indicat
characteri
s
an import
a
Biology
In our lite
r
highly sop
so develo
p
sensitive
a
crevices a
n
explore th
suggests
t
should fo
c
than relyi
n
observati
o
indicate t
h
interactio
n
n
vironments and
c
e
phants find the
m
h
abitat, daily habi
t
e wanted to invol
v
ign process to ga
t
he elephants to i
n
f
ect, we prototyp
e
a
nd tested them
w
ign Characteri
two distinct stra
n
itself and the de
s
ts are deeply int
e
a metaphor for t
h
re and the feedb
a
n
the playability
o
t
e that both the e
l
stics and their co
n
a
nt role in the de
s
rature search we
p
histicated hearin
g
p
ed [11]. Additio
a
nd dexterous, a
n
nd other small sp
e environment a
s
t
hat modalities fo
r
c
us on tactile and
n
g on a visual dis
p
o
ns of elephants i
n
h
at they might un
n
with a system.
c
ontexts in which
m
selves, for exam
p
t
s or social intera
v
e the elephants
t
her their respon
s
n
fluence the desi
g
e
d some of our de
w
ith the elephant
s
i
stics
n
ds to this work –
s
ign of the interfa
c
e
grated, as the in
t
h
e underlying sys
t
a
ck from the syst
e
o
f the toy. Our fi
n
l
ephants’ biologic
a
n
textual circumst
a
s
ign developmen
t
found that eleph
a
g
but that their vi
s
nally, their trunk
s
n
d they often inve
aces with their tr
u
s
well as forage.
T
r
interfacing with
acoustic properti
e
p
lay. In practice,
n
teracting with p
r
derstand a tangi
b
different
p
le in
ctions..
themselves
s
es thus
g
n process.
e
sign
s
.
the design
c
e. The
t
erface
t
em
e
m is
n
dings so
a
l
a
nces play
t
.
a
nts have
sion is not
s
are very
e
stigate
u
nk tips, to
T
his
a toy/game
e
s, rather
our
r
ototypes
b
le, physical
Context
During our ethnographic work, it soon became clear
that captive elephants in the UK are not a homogenous
group. Quite apart from being different species
(African and Asian), they all find themselves in unique
situations. Some have NC (no contact) with their
human keepers; some have PC (protected contact,
where the keeper is always on the other side of a
barrier) while there are yet others who have FC (full
contact). The majority are housed with at least one
other elephant, although there are exceptions. Many
animals are kept with conspecifics who are not their
immediate family and very few have the experience of
being part of a herd. Even when elephants are housed
in similar conditions, their behaviours, interests and
attitudes vary, as evidenced by the different ways in
which they play.
Our toy designs need to account for these individual
differences, as they will influence the way in which
different elephants may be able and willing to engage.
For example, a matriarch will dominate activities within
a group, therefore care has to be taken to ensure that
everyone in the vicinity is being enriched. This
background research, combined with discussions with
animal welfare experts and elephant keepers, has
enabled us to develop a number of design concepts
(See Figures 1 and 2 for examples).
Since environmental enrichment aims to encourage
species-appropriate behaviours across a range of
categories, the interactive toys should aim to give the
captive elephant an experience that shares some
features of an experience enjoyed by a wild elephant,
or which encourages the elephant to practice some of
the skills that a wild elephant would naturally deploy.
Zoos and wildlife parks currently offer their elephants a
range of enrichment, therefore the focus of the toy
design is on gaps in provision, with the goal of using
technology to offer something new.
Currently, we are offering one of our play-testers (Valli
at Skanda Vale Ashram) a range of prototypes, allowing
her to make choices and monitoring her responses.
Below we describe three examples and related findings.
Prototyping and Evaluation
Each intervention has clear goals, relating to its
potential for playful enrichment, its game design
characteristics, its usability for an elephant and the
technical challenges involved. Each intervention was
discussed and planned with Valli’s caretakers.
Participatory Design1: Low Frequency Audio
Playful Enrichment Goal [Sensory - acoustic]:
See if Valli shows interest in low frequency sounds
and establish that such noises will not upset her.
Game Design Goal: Determine if hearing low
frequency sounds could be a motivating
experience.
Usability Goal: Find out if audio could be used as
a feedback device.
Technical Goal: Test speakers for low frequency
sound production.
This was designed to test potential output modalities
prior to developing an interactive acoustic toy using low
frequency audio as a feedback mechanism. Audio in
the range 60-70Hz seemed to generate the most
interest and none of the sounds upset Valli, according
to keepers’ observations and interpretations of her
stance. (See Figure 3)
Figure 3: Valli listens to
didgeridoo
Figure 4: Reaching for pipe
buttons through the wall
Figure 5: Valli activates the
water su
pp
l
y