A. Makinde, Muhammad Muhaiminul Islam, Stacey D. Scott
The fields of animal-computer interaction (ACI) and precision livestock farming (PLF) have emerged in parallel, distinct communities, but have many overlapping goals and concerns. PLF is concerned with the development of new technologies to improve livestock farming operations and outcomes, including improving the health and welfare of farm animals. However, unlike ACI, which has roots in the human-computer interaction field and thus incorporates many user-centred design methodological traditions, PLF research has emerged largely from engineering fields and is highly technology-focused. This work-in-progress paper discusses the opportunities to apply research and methodologies emerging from the ACI field to help improve the usability and overall utility of PLF technologies for both its human and animal users. We also discuss several ongoing projects from our research group that take this approach.
{"title":"Opportunities for ACI in PLF: Applying Animal- and User-Centred Design to Precision Livestock Farming","authors":"A. Makinde, Muhammad Muhaiminul Islam, Stacey D. Scott","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371055","url":null,"abstract":"The fields of animal-computer interaction (ACI) and precision livestock farming (PLF) have emerged in parallel, distinct communities, but have many overlapping goals and concerns. PLF is concerned with the development of new technologies to improve livestock farming operations and outcomes, including improving the health and welfare of farm animals. However, unlike ACI, which has roots in the human-computer interaction field and thus incorporates many user-centred design methodological traditions, PLF research has emerged largely from engineering fields and is highly technology-focused. This work-in-progress paper discusses the opportunities to apply research and methodologies emerging from the ACI field to help improve the usability and overall utility of PLF technologies for both its human and animal users. We also discuss several ongoing projects from our research group that take this approach.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122183783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zach Cleghern, Evan Williams, Sean P. Mealin, Marc Foster, Timothy R. N. Holder, A. Bozkurt, D. Roberts
Evaluating potential guide dogs is crucial for guide dog schools as raising and training is an expensive process. During adolescence, volunteers raise dogs in training away from guide dog schools and expose them to a variety of stimuli and teach them obedience skills. However, no objective data exists about the dog's behavior and environment during this period, usually lasting several months to a year. We developed an Internet of Things sensor-equipped collar to quantify dogs' behaviors and environments during this stage. Raisers collect data from the collar using a smartphone app which in turn uploads data to a central processing pipeline. We present an overview of the system and an evaluation showing how we can learn meaningful information about a dog's environment and physical activities while away from the school for months on end, ideally to help predict which dogs will be successful in training.
{"title":"An IoT and Analytics Platform for Characterizing Adolescent Dogs' Suitability for Guide Work","authors":"Zach Cleghern, Evan Williams, Sean P. Mealin, Marc Foster, Timothy R. N. Holder, A. Bozkurt, D. Roberts","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371056","url":null,"abstract":"Evaluating potential guide dogs is crucial for guide dog schools as raising and training is an expensive process. During adolescence, volunteers raise dogs in training away from guide dog schools and expose them to a variety of stimuli and teach them obedience skills. However, no objective data exists about the dog's behavior and environment during this period, usually lasting several months to a year. We developed an Internet of Things sensor-equipped collar to quantify dogs' behaviors and environments during this stage. Raisers collect data from the collar using a smartphone app which in turn uploads data to a central processing pipeline. We present an overview of the system and an evaluation showing how we can learn meaningful information about a dog's environment and physical activities while away from the school for months on end, ideally to help predict which dogs will be successful in training.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"72 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124527579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K. C. Kresnye, A. A. Theisz, Lauren Trester, Patrick C. Shih
The dog park going experience has the potential for many positive experiences for dogs. Through observations, interviews and focus groups, we designed Barks & Rec, a cooperative system that encourages community connections and behaviors awareness in dogs park goers through interweaving the dog park community. With activity tracking integration, our design allows for owners to keep tabs on their dog's activity while contributing to community goals and encourages pet awareness.
{"title":"Barks & Rec: A Dog Park Socio-Technical System","authors":"K. C. Kresnye, A. A. Theisz, Lauren Trester, Patrick C. Shih","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371064","url":null,"abstract":"The dog park going experience has the potential for many positive experiences for dogs. Through observations, interviews and focus groups, we designed Barks & Rec, a cooperative system that encourages community connections and behaviors awareness in dogs park goers through interweaving the dog park community. With activity tracking integration, our design allows for owners to keep tabs on their dog's activity while contributing to community goals and encourages pet awareness.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124082940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Roberts, Jeremy Park, Anthony Pappas, M. Gruen, Megan Carson
Despite a strong belief and some early evidence of dogs' use of their tail in communication, very little is actually known with confidence about what is being communicated and how. In part this lack of knowledge is likely a result of immature tools available to researchers desiring to study dogs' tail communications. To address this tool gap, we have developed an image processing pipeline using a depth camera, a deep neural network for image segmentation, and pointclouds that enables autonomous extraction of tail position and movement analytics with high fidelity. We present the pipeline and segmentation approach, as well as present some data from a feasibility study. The data are encouraging and indicate promise for this technique, albeit they are not yet conclusive.
{"title":"Automated Tail Position Tracking with Millimeter Accuracy using Depth Sensing and Mask R-CNN","authors":"D. Roberts, Jeremy Park, Anthony Pappas, M. Gruen, Megan Carson","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371050","url":null,"abstract":"Despite a strong belief and some early evidence of dogs' use of their tail in communication, very little is actually known with confidence about what is being communicated and how. In part this lack of knowledge is likely a result of immature tools available to researchers desiring to study dogs' tail communications. To address this tool gap, we have developed an image processing pipeline using a depth camera, a deep neural network for image segmentation, and pointclouds that enables autonomous extraction of tail position and movement analytics with high fidelity. We present the pipeline and segmentation approach, as well as present some data from a feasibility study. The data are encouraging and indicate promise for this technique, albeit they are not yet conclusive.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130722187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Byrne, Jacob Logas, Larry Freil, Courtney Allen, Melissa Baltrusaitis, Vi Nguyen, Christopher Saad, M. Jackson
Training a working dog for a role such as bomb detection or search and rescue can take years, incurring a large cost. As detection work requires visual and odor-based problem-solving abilities, we have started to investigate how to quantify these abilities to assess a dog's potential. Towards this goal, we studied if and how a dog can remotely drive a robot through a simple maze. In our feasibility study, the dogs interact with an affordance mounted on a raised platform which triggers robot movement while also providing visual feedback from the robot. This study evaluated three affordances (tug, button press, and proximity) on two participants to drive the robot through a straight course. By identifying the best robot-canine interaction method, we show the potential for canines extending visual problem-solving abilities to an external device.
{"title":"Dog Driven Robot: Towards Quantifying Problem-Solving Abilities in Dogs","authors":"C. Byrne, Jacob Logas, Larry Freil, Courtney Allen, Melissa Baltrusaitis, Vi Nguyen, Christopher Saad, M. Jackson","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371063","url":null,"abstract":"Training a working dog for a role such as bomb detection or search and rescue can take years, incurring a large cost. As detection work requires visual and odor-based problem-solving abilities, we have started to investigate how to quantify these abilities to assess a dog's potential. Towards this goal, we studied if and how a dog can remotely drive a robot through a simple maze. In our feasibility study, the dogs interact with an affordance mounted on a raised platform which triggers robot movement while also providing visual feedback from the robot. This study evaluated three affordances (tug, button press, and proximity) on two participants to drive the robot through a straight course. By identifying the best robot-canine interaction method, we show the potential for canines extending visual problem-solving abilities to an external device.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"784 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"113982270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Animal Computer Interaction, aims to design user centered interactions that result in good user experiences (UX). During evaluation, the quality of the UX is assessed by measuring the degree to which the interaction between the user and the artefact meets the users' needs and preferences, as evidenced by their behavior. A key measure of the UX is usability. When evaluating usability for different species, ACI researchers face two major challenges: the differences in cognitive, physical and sensory capabilities between human evaluators and animal users, with the implications these differences have for assessing the users' behavior; and the human-centric focus of most usability evaluation methods currently available. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a Method for Evaluating Animal Usability (MEAU), here tailored to Mobility Assistance Dogs as the users, and illustrates its application during a study that compared the canine usability of different access controls.
{"title":"A Method for Evaluating Animal Usability (MEAU)","authors":"Luisa Ruge, C. Mancini","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371060","url":null,"abstract":"Animal Computer Interaction, aims to design user centered interactions that result in good user experiences (UX). During evaluation, the quality of the UX is assessed by measuring the degree to which the interaction between the user and the artefact meets the users' needs and preferences, as evidenced by their behavior. A key measure of the UX is usability. When evaluating usability for different species, ACI researchers face two major challenges: the differences in cognitive, physical and sensory capabilities between human evaluators and animal users, with the implications these differences have for assessing the users' behavior; and the human-centric focus of most usability evaluation methods currently available. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a Method for Evaluating Animal Usability (MEAU), here tailored to Mobility Assistance Dogs as the users, and illustrates its application during a study that compared the canine usability of different access controls.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"172 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123178585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper describes our research and the methodology used to design musical instruments and interfaces aimed at providing auditory enrichment for grey parrots living in captivity. Based on the cognitive, physiological, and acoustic abilities of grey parrots, and their intrinsic interest in acoustic and physical interactions, we have developed and tested various interactive instrument prototypes from an animal-centered design perspective. In a previous study, we analyzed the physical and musical skills of a group of grey parrots, and here we present our design results for auditory enrichment in the context of Animal Computer Interaction (ACI) and artistic research. Our investigation should lead to a better understanding of how grey parrots interact with technological mediators, respond to sound devices, and create "parrot music," with potential benefits for their wellbeing while living in captivity.
{"title":"Animal-Centred Sonic Interaction Design: Musical Instruments and Interfaces for Grey Parrots","authors":"Reinhard Gupfinger, Martin Kaltenbrunner","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371062","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes our research and the methodology used to design musical instruments and interfaces aimed at providing auditory enrichment for grey parrots living in captivity. Based on the cognitive, physiological, and acoustic abilities of grey parrots, and their intrinsic interest in acoustic and physical interactions, we have developed and tested various interactive instrument prototypes from an animal-centered design perspective. In a previous study, we analyzed the physical and musical skills of a group of grey parrots, and here we present our design results for auditory enrichment in the context of Animal Computer Interaction (ACI) and artistic research. Our investigation should lead to a better understanding of how grey parrots interact with technological mediators, respond to sound devices, and create \"parrot music,\" with potential benefits for their wellbeing while living in captivity.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"97 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125534044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Linden, Emma J. Williams, I. Hadar, A. Zamansky
Activity trackers for dogs are increasingly popular, having the potential to improve pets' welfare and providing a 'digital voice' for expressing their needs. ACI research has so far mainly focused on their impact on the pet-human bond. However, also privacy considerations play an important role as they may pose significant barriers towards their wider adoption. We report on a mixed-method study (N=61) investigating what, if any, privacy concerns dog owners hold towards the data captured by their dog's device. We elicited detailed reflections by participants towards the consequences for themselves and others of a hypothetical data breach leaking their dog's data. In addition, we captured several potential indicators for the perception of consequences: trust, perceived transparency, risk, benefit, and self-assessed knowledge of dog behavior (and thus its data). Statistical analysis of the findings indicated that perceived consequences were moderately correlated with trust and perceived benefit of use for society as a whole. A thematic analysis revealed that participants either did not see any consequences, saw consequences only when reasoning about others, or saw consequences to their own or dog's safety, rather than their privacy. We discuss why these findings are worrying in light of the information asymmetry between consumer and service provider, setting out an argument why dog owners should care more about dog activity data and its privacy implications due to the data's ability to reveal potentially sensitive data about themselves as well as their caregiving.
{"title":"Some might freak out: What if your dog's activity tracker were to have a data breach?","authors":"D. Linden, Emma J. Williams, I. Hadar, A. Zamansky","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371057","url":null,"abstract":"Activity trackers for dogs are increasingly popular, having the potential to improve pets' welfare and providing a 'digital voice' for expressing their needs. ACI research has so far mainly focused on their impact on the pet-human bond. However, also privacy considerations play an important role as they may pose significant barriers towards their wider adoption. We report on a mixed-method study (N=61) investigating what, if any, privacy concerns dog owners hold towards the data captured by their dog's device. We elicited detailed reflections by participants towards the consequences for themselves and others of a hypothetical data breach leaking their dog's data. In addition, we captured several potential indicators for the perception of consequences: trust, perceived transparency, risk, benefit, and self-assessed knowledge of dog behavior (and thus its data). Statistical analysis of the findings indicated that perceived consequences were moderately correlated with trust and perceived benefit of use for society as a whole. A thematic analysis revealed that participants either did not see any consequences, saw consequences only when reasoning about others, or saw consequences to their own or dog's safety, rather than their privacy. We discuss why these findings are worrying in light of the information asymmetry between consumer and service provider, setting out an argument why dog owners should care more about dog activity data and its privacy implications due to the data's ability to reveal potentially sensitive data about themselves as well as their caregiving.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128831345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wildlife rehabilitation involves caring for sick, injured, and orphaned non-domesticated native animals to re-release into the wild. While rehabilitators face similar hurdles as animal shelters such as limited funding and technology challenges, wildlife rehabilitation requires minimal human contact to ensure a successful reintroduction to the wild. However, the animals cared for require frequent monitoring and tending for health concerns. In this paper we document our process and design considerations for a smart habitat unique for the American opossum, a common intake at a local rehabilitation center, to limit human interaction while monitoring animal health. Our process includes interviews with volunteers and participatory observation, resulting in specifications of future design work for the American opossum.
{"title":"Towards Rehabilitation Smart Habitats: Designing for North American Opossum Joeys","authors":"K. C. Kresnye, Annie M. Phelps, Patrick C. Shih","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371058","url":null,"abstract":"Wildlife rehabilitation involves caring for sick, injured, and orphaned non-domesticated native animals to re-release into the wild. While rehabilitators face similar hurdles as animal shelters such as limited funding and technology challenges, wildlife rehabilitation requires minimal human contact to ensure a successful reintroduction to the wild. However, the animals cared for require frequent monitoring and tending for health concerns. In this paper we document our process and design considerations for a smart habitat unique for the American opossum, a common intake at a local rehabilitation center, to limit human interaction while monitoring animal health. Our process includes interviews with volunteers and participatory observation, resulting in specifications of future design work for the American opossum.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134324564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aquarium fish is one of the most common household companion animals for humans. Keeping and appreciating aquarium fish enriches us and provides comfort to our lives. However, difficulty in communicating and understanding their fish may negatively impact the person's motivation to continuously take care of their fish. In order to enhance human-fish interaction, we propose "AffectiveNemo", an ACI system for aquarium fish, that estimates and displays "observed emotion" (defined as fish's emotional states that the system estimates based on observations by humans), via speech bubbles shown on an LCD display placed behind the aquarium. The system estimates the observed emotion by analyzing the movement of the fish in the aquarium, and combining this data along with the emotions that the humans perceive the fish to have. We evaluated the accuracy of each module as a preliminary experiment, conducted a user study on the influence of displaying observed emotion, and evaluated the utility of the system. Our findings concluded that the system can correctly detect the observed emotion, further enhance viewer sensitivity by displaying the observed emotion of aquarium fish that humans are perceptive, and promote the interest in aquarium fish.
{"title":"AffectiveNemo","authors":"Naohiro Isokawa, J. Nakazawa, T. Okoshi","doi":"10.1145/3371049.3371067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3371049.3371067","url":null,"abstract":"Aquarium fish is one of the most common household companion animals for humans. Keeping and appreciating aquarium fish enriches us and provides comfort to our lives. However, difficulty in communicating and understanding their fish may negatively impact the person's motivation to continuously take care of their fish. In order to enhance human-fish interaction, we propose \"AffectiveNemo\", an ACI system for aquarium fish, that estimates and displays \"observed emotion\" (defined as fish's emotional states that the system estimates based on observations by humans), via speech bubbles shown on an LCD display placed behind the aquarium. The system estimates the observed emotion by analyzing the movement of the fish in the aquarium, and combining this data along with the emotions that the humans perceive the fish to have. We evaluated the accuracy of each module as a preliminary experiment, conducted a user study on the influence of displaying observed emotion, and evaluated the utility of the system. Our findings concluded that the system can correctly detect the observed emotion, further enhance viewer sensitivity by displaying the observed emotion of aquarium fish that humans are perceptive, and promote the interest in aquarium fish.","PeriodicalId":110764,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction","volume":"144 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121387874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}