Dolphin uses iPad to learn to identify objects
Cats love iPads, dogs love iPads, and dolphins... love iPads? That's the word from a site called SpeakDolphin.com [PDF, here's the text], where researchers say they're using the iPad's touchscreen to offer up visual stimuli for dolphins to touch and interact with. A touchscreen for dolphins needs to have a few certain criteria, including being waterproof-able, sensitivity, and visual clarity, and apparently the iPad fits the bill, as you can see in the picture.So what kinds of apps does a dolphin use? Turns out they're addicted to Plants vs. Zombies HD, too. No, just kidding -- they use just an image that contains pictures of various items that exist around the dolphin in real life. The trainer points to an object in real life, and then asks the dolphin to point to that same object on the screen, laying the very first groundwork for lingual interaction.
Interesting stuff. We haven't heard of dolphins using Apple's magical device before, obviously, but what's constantly surprising is that the iPad is slowly replacing all sorts of other technology, and being used in many ways that Apple's engineers couldn't even imagine.
[via BoingBoing]
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Cats love iPads, dogs love iPads, and dolphins... love iPads? That's the word from a site called SpeakDolphin.com [PDF, here's the text],...
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Well, if its so simple a dolphin can use it, yet lets people check e-mail, surf the web, read the wall street journal and play games on it, its a step above any other device on the market.
I want a dolphin accessory to go with my iPad.
I still don't get what the big deal with the iPad is. At least dolphins do I guess.
June 03 2010 at 5:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply"What's she typing now?"
"Wait a sec...'so'...'long'...'and'...uh, 'thanks'...'for'..."
the source article states that they're choosing between an ipad and a panasonic toughbook as both have the same functionality. the toughbook also has full windows 7, a core i5 and of course multitouch. just thought i'd mention :)
out of interest though, how come so many tuaw articles come from other sources? don't they have many journalists? surely by specialising in apple, they should be able to get more news first, or maybe more exclusives? a lot of the time tuaw feels like a tech blog aggregator more than anything else.
"don't they have many journalists?"
No.
"a lot of the time tuaw feels like a tech blog aggregator more than anything else."
That's what they are.
are they really? there is no 'about' page. their name 'the unofficial apple weblog' doesn't suggest that they should be doing any less active journalism than any other tech blog. and they do have some original articles, just less and less i think. editorials too. which would suggest that they are not just an aggregator; they're obviously more than a collection of links to other articles. but they're in the half way point i find a lot of the time. which isn't a good place to be.
also, on the just the first two pages there were articles by 7 different people. no that's not NYT figures, but it's not a million miles off the amount of contributors engadget has.
i find tuaw interesting at times, but an aggregator (and often a very slow paced one at that..) is a lot less interesting than a site that produces original journalism consistently. i see no evidence of tuaw billing themselves as aggregators. so what gives?
How do you know that Apple's engineers didn't actually build this device for EXACTLY THIS USE CASE?
(They threw in multi-touch just to confuse us.)
AT&T will soon add a "Dolphin Use" plan and charge you $20 more for it.
June 02 2010 at 4:10 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyApparently that "waterproof case" (plastic bag) on amazon is actually waterproof...
June 02 2010 at 4:07 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThat's amazing, because I can't see anything on my iPad when I'm in the sun. Are the dolphins using some sort of polarizing filter to better see the images? If so, where can I get some?
June 02 2010 at 3:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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