Do Monkeys Want Audio or Visual Stimuli? Interactive Computers for Choice with White-Faced Sakis in Zoos

Hirskyj-Douglas, I. and Kankaanpaa, V. (2022) Do Monkeys Want Audio or Visual Stimuli? Interactive Computers for Choice with White-Faced Sakis in Zoos. In: DIS '22: Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 13-17 Jun 2022, pp. 1497-1511. ISBN 9781450393584 (doi: 10.1145/3532106.3533577)

Abstract

Interactive systems were built to give monkeys a choice over when and where to trigger stimuli as a way to control their environment to improve their welfare indices. Typically, systems only support the triggering of one stimulus – either audio or visual. In this study, a system was developed for monkeys that allowed them to choose between multiple auditory and visual stimuli. Utilising this system over several weeks, we found that monkeys would interact and choose between different stimuli, though not significantly, and that sakis triggered audio stimuli twice as much as visual stimuli. The monkeys interacted with audio and visual stimuli differently over time, spotlighting how we can define and measure the interactivity and user experience for monkey–computer interfaces. Furthermore, the monkeys’ interactions, while initially increasing, declined over the study period, which indicated a novelty effect. This paper builds upon computer systems for primates by uncovering answers to key questions regarding creating and defining interactive systems according to a user’s choices.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kankaanpaa, Ms Vilma and Hirskyj-Douglas, Dr Ilyena
• Authors: Hirskyj-Douglas, I., and Kankaanpaa, V.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• ISBN: 9781450393584
• Published Online: 13 June 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

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