Early-Adopting Dolphin Uses iPad Touchscreen to Communicate with Humans
Steve Jobs promised us the iPad would change our lives, and while it hasn't been all things to all people - what about that front-facing camera, Steve? - the beauty of such a device is that developers (to the extent that Apple will allow them, anyhow) are free to get as creative as they want with the device. Just ask Merlin the bottlenose dolphin. He loves the iPad, and thanks to a symbol-based human-dolphin communication interface being developed for the iPad's ample touchscreen, he could one day be able to tell you so himself. The program, being developed by a non-profit called Speak Dolphin at Dolphin Discovery's swim facility in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, is being tested on both the iPad and a Panasonic Toughbook. Merlin, a two-year-old bottlenose, uses his rostrum (that's his elongated beak) to operate the touchscreen, learning to associates symbols with objects. Related ArticlesSaving Dolphins With SonarFYI: What...