New technology that allows zoo animals and their human visitors to share experiences could have positive benefits for both, researchers say.
Last summer, computing science experts from the University of Glasgow teamed up with zookeepers at Blair Drummond Safari Park to test “SensorySafari,” a prototype interactive system which enabled red-ruffed lemurs and humans to share linked multisensory experiences.
The results of the project, set to be presented at a conference this month, suggest that the everyday lives of the endangered red-ruffed lemurs could be enriched by on-demand access to video and sound clips, as well as the distinctive smells of favored foods and plants.
At the same time, visitors who had the chance to share the same sensory experiences and watch videos of the lemurs interacting with the device spent more time in the animals’ habitat. They also reported that they felt an increased emotional connection with the lemurs as a result of interacting with the SensorySafari device.
Dr. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas of the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science led the development of SensorySafari.
She said, “It can be challenging for zoos to balance their animals’ health, welfare and need for enrichment with their wider aim to provide entertainment and education for visitors. Activities like one-on-one sessions, where visitors can touch and feed the animals in controlled environments, can create memorable moments for humans but can be stressful or repetitive for animals over long periods.
“We developed SensorySafari to explore the potential of interactive technology to enable valuable but indirect connections between visitors and animals. Interactive tech has the potential to give animals access to new enrichment activities which feel safe and comfortable, while also providing humans with more engaging routes to learn about animals.”
During the pilot project, the researchers installed a specially-designed box containing a video screen, speakers and three vials filled with different scents in the red-ruffed lemurs’ enclosure. Infrared sensors inside the box detected when the lemurs entered, triggering a video, a sound, a smell or a combination or two or more. The sensors also started a video camera, which recorded their interactions for as long as they lasted.
During the 63-day test, which began and ended with periods where the box offered no interactive elements, Blair Drummond’s six red-ruffed lemurs were given the opportunity to use the box as often as they wanted to. Remarkably, they triggered the device more than 3,200 times when the interactive elements were active, interacting significantly more with the system when it offered them “multimodal” experiences that provided more than one stimulus at a time.
They spent the least amount of time interacting with SensorySafari when they were shown the videos alone, which displayed abstract colors or images of a rose garden or fruit. Instead, the smells—of dried fruits and plants like banana and palm leaves—were most attractive, and encouraged lemurs to spend the most time interacting with the system. The lemurs appeared to favor the dried scents over their synthetic alternatives, spending more than four minutes at a time savoring the smells.
While there were no significant differences in how frequently lemurs triggered the system between single and multimodal stimuli, the length of engagement was substantially greater when multiple senses were stimulated together.
Dr. Hirskyj-Douglas said, “Interactive systems designed for animals often focus on offering visual stimuli through pictures and video, so it’s interesting that this element ended up being the least appealing element of SensorySafari for the red-ruffed lemurs. The fact that they engaged longer with the multimodal experiences suggests that interactive systems should take more care to engage animals’ senses beyond simply what they can see and hear. It could be that multimodal interactions offer experiences which are closer to how they find food in the wild, and thus are more engaging for them.”
For 20 days during the longer test of SensorySafari with the lemurs, the researchers also paid close attention to human visitors during their time around the animals’ enclosure. After five days of observing visitors near the enclosure without any interactive elements aimed at them, the researchers installed a touchscreen device in a heavily trafficked spot with a view of the lemurs.
More than 25,000 visitors interacted with the human-focused SensorySafari device, which offered them the chance to play a guessing game to predict which sensory stimuli or combinations the lemurs preferred most, receiving immediate feedback on their guesses. When visitors correctly identified the lemurs’ favorite sensory combinations, they learned specific information about individual lemurs and received a sticker as a reward.
The touchscreen device significantly increased the amount of time humans spent by the lemur enclosure, boosting visit time from one minute during the initial five-day control to 18 minutes during the time when both the human and lemur-focused SensorySafari devices were active.
Nearly 1,000 visitors filled out surveys which showed that they found their visits more enjoyable and educational when they could interact with SensorySafari, and that they felt more empathetic towards lemurs’ welfare and aware of the animals’ thoughts and feelings.
Jiaqi Wang, a postgraduate researcher at the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science, worked on the development of SensorySafari and is a co-author of the paper. She said, “What was particularly striking about visitors’ positive responses to SensorySafari is that it sparked engagement with the lemurs even if they weren’t using the system directly.
“We saw a lot of people watching over others’ shoulders, or discussing the system and animals’ responses with each other. It seemed to be a real conversation starter, encouraging people to think out loud with each other about the lemurs instead of passively observing them and moving on.”
The paper marks the latest development in Dr. Hirskyj-Douglas’ partnership with Blair Drummond Safari Park. Last year, they developed “LemurLounge,” which offered brown and ring-tailed lemurs the chance to trigger sounds on demand. In 2023, a similar enrichment device was tested with the park’s giraffes.
Blair Drummond Safari Park’s Research Coordinator, Connor Malone, said, “We’re delighted to continue supporting the development of interactive systems as enrichment tools. This study highlights how they can enhance both animal engagement and visitor interaction.
“It’s particularly exciting to see that the SensorySafari device significantly increased the time visitors spent with the lemurs and gave them a greater understanding of their needs. Helping people recognize our animals as intelligent, sentient beings naturally fosters empathy. We look forward to applying these insights to further enrich our animals’ lives and enhance visitor experiences.”
Dr. Hirskyj-Douglas added, “These are really encouraging results, which suggest that there is value in building technologies which can be of benefit for both animals and humans. Next, we’re keen to explore how lemurs and visitors can control technology together, rather than just observing it separately.”
The team’s paper, titled “Reshaping Human-animal Relationships: Exploring Lemur and Human Enrichment through Smell, Sound, and Sight,” will be presented at the CHI Conference in Yokohama, Japan, on Tuesday 29 April.