Improving Animal Behavior Studies through the use of Robots and Computer Animation
Animals learn by example, whether it is a group of ducklings following their mother’s lead to leap into a pond or a two year old child repeating swear words that a parent spoke during a brief road rage incident. Examples on how to behave in order to survive are learned at every stage of life. These learned examples on how to find food, interact socially and on proper mating behaviors are vital to a species survival. However orphans rescued from the wild and animals that are bred and born in captivity often miss out on these invaluable lessons. Animal behavior specialists, who study the behavioral patterns of animals, have devised many creative ways to bridge …show more content…
Using this technology has made changing the environment as well as artificial subjects much easier and less costly. With animation, organisms can be easily changed in color, shape, and size. It is far less time consuming to create an animation that can be modified with a few clicks of a mouse than to sit and wait for the right conditions in nature to occur. Because of this, computer animation has significantly sped up the time in which experiments are conducted as well as the quality of the information collected from those experiments. It has also allowed for less invasive procedures such as manipulations through surgical …show more content…
According to Whatls.com, “A robot is a machine designed to execute one or more tasks repeatedly” (Rouse). Robots are the perfect candidate for studying animal behavior which requires repetition in order to draw accurate conclusions. An example of such repetition is provided in the study done on the matting patterns and songs of male frogs (Klein et al. 466-472). In this study, the age old question of “Why do frogs croak?” is being considered. Although we know the general answer to this question is to find a mate, in this study another question is proposed. Does the inflammation of the throat attract females, or is it the song alone (Klein et al. 467)? In order to answer this question a simple frog robot was constructed. Of course in order for this male robot to be effective, it must convince the living female that it is the real thing. The use of a thin latex balloon attached to an inflation device, is all that is needed to produce a realistic vocal sac (Klein et al. 467). When put together with a molded and painted dummy this frog is realistic enough to fool it living counterparts. This simple frog-bot along with the recorded audio of the male frog’s courtship song was sufficient material to obtaining an answer to the proposed question. Using cost effective materials, such as latex balloon and hand operated inflation
Animals learn by example, whether it is a group of ducklings following their mother’s lead to leap into a pond or a two year old child repeating swear words that a parent spoke during a brief road rage incident. Examples on how to behave in order to survive are learned at every stage of life. These learned examples on how to find food, interact socially and on proper mating behaviors are vital to a species survival. However orphans rescued from the wild and animals that are bred and born in captivity often miss out on these invaluable lessons. Animal behavior specialists, who study the behavioral patterns of animals, have devised many creative ways to bridge …show more content…
Using this technology has made changing the environment as well as artificial subjects much easier and less costly. With animation, organisms can be easily changed in color, shape, and size. It is far less time consuming to create an animation that can be modified with a few clicks of a mouse than to sit and wait for the right conditions in nature to occur. Because of this, computer animation has significantly sped up the time in which experiments are conducted as well as the quality of the information collected from those experiments. It has also allowed for less invasive procedures such as manipulations through surgical …show more content…
According to Whatls.com, “A robot is a machine designed to execute one or more tasks repeatedly” (Rouse). Robots are the perfect candidate for studying animal behavior which requires repetition in order to draw accurate conclusions. An example of such repetition is provided in the study done on the matting patterns and songs of male frogs (Klein et al. 466-472). In this study, the age old question of “Why do frogs croak?” is being considered. Although we know the general answer to this question is to find a mate, in this study another question is proposed. Does the inflammation of the throat attract females, or is it the song alone (Klein et al. 467)? In order to answer this question a simple frog robot was constructed. Of course in order for this male robot to be effective, it must convince the living female that it is the real thing. The use of a thin latex balloon attached to an inflation device, is all that is needed to produce a realistic vocal sac (Klein et al. 467). When put together with a molded and painted dummy this frog is realistic enough to fool it living counterparts. This simple frog-bot along with the recorded audio of the male frog’s courtship song was sufficient material to obtaining an answer to the proposed question. Using cost effective materials, such as latex balloon and hand operated inflation