‘LemurLounge’ offers zoo animals the chance to chill to sounds of their choosing

Researchers from the University of Glasgow have teamed up with zookeepers at Blair Drummond Safari Park to explore whether interactive technology that lets zoo lemurs play sounds on demand could enrich their everyday lives.
To test whether lemurs might choose to trigger sounds when given the chance, the researchers built what they called a ‘LemurLounge’ - a wooden box lined with infrared sensors that played one of a rotating selection of sounds when the animals entered.
The study, the first of its kind to be tested with lemurs, suggests that although they have no single favourite type of sound, they do seem to prefer sound over silence when given the choice. Their interactions also vary across species and between individuals within species groups, which could suggest that, like humans, lemurs have their own preferences for how they interact with devices.
The findings could help inform the development of more fully-featured digital enrichment systems for lemurs living in zoos. The study also offers new insight into the potential differences in preferences between different species of lemurs, and individuals within the species groups, which could help advance the emerging field of animal-computer interaction.
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