IT STARTED as a joke. On 1 April 2011, British newspaper The Sun ran a story claiming that an experiment to entertain captive gorillas using iPads had left them crazy for the game Angry Birds. 鈥溾��, as the April fool鈥檚 story was headlined, quickly found its way to Scott Engel, a freelance photographer and volunteer at in Wisconsin. Engel knew his 3-year-old niece loved using a finger-painting app, so why not a great ape? He had just bought a new iPad, and hearing the zoo鈥檚 gorilla keeper was looking for ways to keep his charges entertained, Engel offered the zoo his old one.
It turned out that Milwaukee鈥檚 gorillas lack the geek streak. Direct eye contact is a threat gesture, so faces on the gadget鈥檚 screen may put them off, Engel suggests. However, the zoo鈥檚 orang-utans went bananas for Apple鈥檚 tablet and soon Engel had rustled up three more iPads to keep the apes busy.
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, a 4-year-old male, and his 31-year-old adoptive mother MJ were fascinated from the start. The first time Mahal saw his own image on the screen 鈥� taken with the iPad鈥檚 camera 鈥� he threw up his hands and clapped. A shy male named Tommy took a while to warm to his tablet, says Engel, 鈥渂ut now he鈥檚 really into it鈥�.
Then Richard Zimmerman of , a conservation group based in New York, heard about the experiment. He saw its potential for both entertaining apes and studying their behaviour. With a shrewd eye for publicity, he also spotted its value for raising public awareness of the precarious status of orang-utans in the wild. And then there were the networking opportunities 鈥� for the apes, that is. Put iPads in zoos across the US and they could be connected through the internet, using Apesbook perhaps, to offer bored orang-utans online 鈥減rimate play dates鈥�. To help raise funds, Orangutan Outreach launched its campaign in May.
鈥淲ith iPads in zoos, orang-utans could be connected online, perhaps using 鈥楢pesbook鈥欌��
Orang-utans are the obvious candidates for this kind of activity, says Trish Khan, Milwaukee zoo鈥檚 head orang-utan keeper. These apes are known for their intelligence, curiosity and creativity (they鈥檙e notorious escape artists, Khan says) but can quickly become bored and depressed in the monotonous confines of captivity. 鈥淭heir world is really very small,鈥� she says, and that makes a computer a welcome distraction.
Khan鈥檚 orang-utans aren鈥檛 the first computer-gaming apes. Orang-utans at have been using a concrete 鈥渢ree鈥� with an embedded touchscreen computer since 2008. The apes use it to play games in which they categorise, match and sequence images, which provides useful data on how orang-utans learn and think.
However the real IT crowd resides at the in Washington DC. Since 1994 its orang-utans have used computers both for entertainment and to communicate with keepers using a . Currently their 鈥渄ictionary鈥� contains around 70 symbols including nouns such as food items as well as verbs and adjectives. Eventually syntax 鈥� the other building block of language 鈥� will be added to see if the orang-utans can construct sentences to communicate with their carers.
At Milwaukee the iPads are still considered tools for entertainment rather than for research. The keepers offer them no more than twice a week, and with no food rewards it鈥檚 up to the apes whether they participate.
Engel, now the zoo鈥檚 official iPad enrichment coordinator, shows the orang-utans videos through the glass facing the visitors鈥� area. They鈥檙e fascinated by clips of other animals; Mahal loves videos of Humboldt penguins, though 鈥渉e鈥檚 not too keen on rhinos鈥�, Engel says. MJ prefers David Attenborough鈥檚 BBC documentary on apes. 鈥淚 think she has a crush on him,鈥� Engel adds.
The orang-utans also use free or inexpensive drawing programs such as Doodle Buddy, music app Magic Piano and simple games like Koi Pond. The animated, interactive app is also a favourite. 鈥淲e鈥檙e collecting information on their preferences and how they use the iPads, where they position their fingers and how much of the screen they use,鈥� Khan says. She would like to commission customised apps with larger buttons and more pictures, and hopes that visitors will be able to download the same apps and use them to compete with the orang-utans in games using their own mobile gadgets.
But first she and Engel must face a challenge of their own. At the moment Milwaukee鈥檚 apes must reach through their enclosure鈥檚 metal bars to touch the iPad screens. 鈥淚f they got a hold of it, they鈥檇 take it apart,鈥� says Khan. To solve this, keepers at the Smithsonian National Zoo mounted their computers on walls and heavy carts and added transparent plastic covers to protect the screens. Each device then needed additional sensors to measure the position of an orang-utan鈥檚 fingers. So Khan and her colleagues are looking for a simpler and cheaper way to make the iPad鈥檚 wafer-thin screen ape-proof. They have begun by contacting industrial designers who specialise in computer casings. Zimmerman also plans to consult dolphin expert Jack Kassewitz for his experience using waterproofed iPads (see 鈥淎ppiness for all鈥�). 鈥淥rang-utans pee on everything,鈥� says Zimmerman.
So far about a dozen zoos have expressed interest in joining Apps for Apes. But meeting this demand is proving a challenge. Most zoos operate on shoestring budgets and Zimmerman has struggled to find funding. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping Apple takes notice,鈥� he says.
Should a backer step in, Zimmerman will be able to put his most ambitious plan into effect. With iPads distributed, he hopes to use Skype or Apple鈥檚 networking software to set up video calls connecting orang-utans with friends 鈥� simian or human 鈥� no matter how far away. Research by Suzanne MacDonald from York University in Toronto, Canada, has shown that orang-utans can differentiate themselves from gorillas and other primates; whether they would connect a screen image with an actual individual is an interesting question, she says. If they can, play dates might prove useful for letting females view prospective mates.
Zimmerman would also like to offer iPads to orang-utan rehabilitation centres in Indonesia. There, young orang-utans are taught about the dangers they will face once returned to the wild. Current training is crude 鈥� for instance orang-utans are shown rubber snakes while loud, unpleasant noise is played. With iPads this training could be expanded and automated. For Khan, though, the project is already reaping rewards. 鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled when I see kids鈥� mouths drop open and they say, 鈥楬ey Mom, I have that same app at home.鈥� It鈥檚 like opening a window, and letting them see how intelligent these animals are.鈥�
Appiness for all
Orang-utans aren鈥檛 the only mammals enjoying the iPad: marine creatures are also getting a turn, thanks to an attempt to crack the code of dolphin language.
Working from an aquarium in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, Jack Kassewitz, of Miami-based , has sealed an iPad in a waterproof case and placed it in a tank that houses a 2-year-old bottlenose dolphin named Merlin. Merlin has learned to identify eight separate physical objects and taps the matching image on the iPad screen whenever he is shown one of them.
Kassewitz also uses microphones and an iPad oscilloscope app called SignalScope to capture the sounds that Merlin makes when he looks at the objects. Kassewitz describes the results as 鈥渟ound pictures鈥� similar to ultrasound scans, each containing a representation of the object itself. When replayed, other dolphins are able to use the sounds to identify the objects.
Kassewitz is now working with other researchers to develop a model of dolphin language which he hopes will one day let humans communicate with them.
