Bottlenose-Dolphin-Computer-Interaction (BnDCI)
From this study [here], which I stumbled upon recently, apparently elephants are one of a few animals that can realize that they’re looking at themselves in a mirror.
Scientists have tested mirror self-recognition in a variety of animals other than humans and great apes, but invariably failed, with the exception of the bottlenose dolphin. “After the recent discovery that dolphins are capable of recognizing themselves in the mirror, elephants seemed the next logical species for testing,†said Reiss. “Humans, great apes, dolphins and elephants, well known for their superior intelligence and complex social systems, are thought to possess the highest forms of empathy and altruism in the animal kingdom.â€
This made me wonder whether great apes, bottlenose dolphins and elepnants would be able to recognize their own virtual world representation. Obviously, seeing yourself in the mirror is a little bit different than owning it up in Warsong Gulch, but it made me wonder. 
If given the right trunk and tusk attachments, or the right fin and flipper nodules, would another kind of animal be capable of partaking in the gaming experience? We’ve already seen that primates can learn to sign, as seems to be the case with Koko the gorilla [Here], who has apparently learned American sign language (ASL), as well as created terms in Gorilla sign language (GSL[ROFL]).
Human computer interaction (HCI) is the art of creating devices that help us to navigate computers (and online games, obviously). Could bottlenose dolphin computer interaction (BnDCI) be helping our aquatic allies to roll on epic drops?
Time will tell.
Neils Clark :: Apr.05.2007 :: Media Experience ::
[...] Posted by deafnn on April 6th, 2007 [...]
Flipper is scary good at Ecco.
Being previously unfamiliar with the well-known human > great ape > dolphin > elephant hierarchy of “skill at jeopardy,” I did find this line comical on the first read:
““After the recent discovery that dolphins are capable of recognizing themselves in the mirror, elephants seemed the next logical species for testing”
Natch. Elephants often come after dolphins on lists of things.
In response to your own question, there is in fact at least one bonobo who can play video games. He’s Kanzi, the much-noted and oft-debated ape who can “talk” and understand human speech ( http://primatology.org/2006/07/11/kanzi-playin-pacman/ ). He is not particularly good, but I do think he understands what he is doing. No need to give him a big hairy ape body and stick him in the trees — he understands that bow-headed half-moon we call Ms. Pacman as his avatar just fine.
That’s pretty awesome Danny, I’m going to embed the Miss Pacman video
The fundamental question is whether self-recognition, empathy and social structure are enough to allow an elephant or a dolphin to play inside of a virtual world.
Still, I can think of a really cheap experiment off-hand: Get a wii, and attach the controllers to the elephant’s trunks. Get a projector, and project the screen so that two elephants can stand side by side. Create a pong game. Let them play pong. Then let them play tennis. Then Warcraft. Then make sure that they get some physical exercise.
I have outrageous plans for more in-depth BnDCI and Elephant-Computer-Interaction (ECI), and I expect to sketch those out in the next week or so, esp. if I’m feeling particularly bad writer’s block.