Soundyssey: Elephant Music Box

Designing, fabricating, and testing a rotation-sensitive, impact-resistant, interactive music box to cognitively engage elephants. The device switched playback between five musical pieces— ranging from cello to opera to low bass notes— depending on which cube side was face-up as read by a gyroscopic sensor and an on-board processor. One side was silent.

Animals in managed care ideally are provided with environmental stimuli for their psychological and physiological well-being. Most commonly, food-based enrichment methods are used to mimic wild conditions, allowing animals to search and forage. Other sensory stimulation devices may be employed to reduce stereotypical behaviors. However, many of these devices fall short of providing choice and control to animals, an important factor in cognitive engagement.We present a case study conducted at the San Diego Zoo that explores such design for two elephants. The resultant system, called Soundyssey, is an active auditory enrichment device for elephants that encourages play behaviors through embodied interaction. Our preliminary results indicate that elephants understood the system and interacted with the interface significantly longer than with passive objects. During the interactions, elephants showed more positive behaviors such as focused exploration, reducing the possibility of negative stereotypical behaviors. We suggest that such technologically-enhanced objects and embodied design can enhance standards of managed animal care.

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with Y. Wu and H. Sareen (Parsons School of Design).