iPads for animals?

When Steve jobs launched the iPad, the new incredible and innovating Apple’s release he might not have been thinking about the dolphin market. Even though the iPad was made for human, the people from the Dolphin Discovey sweim facility in Aventuras, Mexico, think it can be used for interspecies research.

The scientits use waterprofeed ipad to help them comunicate with Merlin, a bottlenose dolphin, to improve the way dolphins express themselves to humans. Merlin is quite curious, like every other dolphin.

Jack Kassewitz, a scientist says he’s been able to communicate with Merlin with the ipad. He thinks that when the dolphins get the hang of the touchscreen they would be able to choose from assortment of symbols to reprsent objetc, actions and emotion.

This discovery is one of many others, like communication using touch and body postur.

Finally, Kassewitz has some suggestions for the people in charge of the iPad production: “Waterproofing, processor speed, touch-sensitivity, anti-glare screens and dolphin-friendly programs are essential... we need fast technology to help us working with the dolphins”.

This kind of research is performed to undercover how these peculiar animals communicate to each other, a process that has remained as a true mystery for humans.

Original article:

iPads for animals? It's not as far fetched as you think…

by Alok Jha

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jun/13/ipad-dolphins-language