neils clark

Here’s a very quick sketch of one ECI layout (click for a larger image). I couldn’t resist after my last post wondered whether these big beasts could enter virtual worlds. Studies have recently shown elephants are able to recognize themselves in mirrors (the post below has a reply of a youtube video showing a bonobo playing Miss Pacman). By projecting an image onto a large screen in front of the pachyderm, and using a transmitter controller similar to a Wii remote, you could very easily test to see whether they’d “get it.” In the illustration, a soft band goes around the end of the trunk, but this is really only to help the big feller to grip it, elephants are quite capable of gently picking up and handling objects of that size.

A Wii console would actually be a very cheap way to test the feasibility of introducing Elephants to the metaverse. Initial training could involve giving the Elephant his or her favorite treat as a reward for successful interface navigation. An alternate approach may be to hang a light weight “keyboard” from the tusks, giving the elephant a few more options. The tusk clickers were an attempt to create a soft-padded kind of mouse button. Only one will be clickable at a time, so there would be some need for navigation in places beside the trunk. Ears may be another option for such a device, although given the trunk’s mobility a touch screen could be a simple work-around to creating push buttons capable of sustaining 1-2 tonnes of force. Sound is another option. If elephants ever are to more deeply enter these worlds, then different tones of sound might be able to activate certain abilities or options.

The dolphin system looked a lot less comfortable, and a lot more expensive to make. I’ll probably keep working on those sketches.

Any other being learning to use such a system would ideally be started young. It’s been shown that humans, based on brain development, have certain “cognitive windows.” (it isn’t recommended that those running cognitive windows ME try too much gaming). Ideally we’d be starting elephants, great apes, or dolphins at a very young age. If this were tried with younger dolphins, great apes and elephants, we might even attempt to visually introduce concepts of human language (like “Tree” “T R E E”). Language, let alone the English language, is yet another stretch. If interfaces do prove possible, it might be interesting to let an elephant or a dolphin try to control a robotic human arm.

The key question, of course, “Would you let the elephant win?”

Wait, back on topic, the other key question is, “What do you do with an addict elephant?”

Neils Clark :: Apr.07.2007 :: Games ::

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