One study found that monkeys with their own “primate-focused” versions of Spotify and Netflix were more likely to choose audio stimuli during screen time.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow and Aalto University in Finland set out to explore how a group of three white-faced saki monkeys at the Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki would respond to being able to activate sound or visual stimuli on demand.
Infrared sensors were used to create three interactive zones of the same size in a tunnel in the monkey enclosure and the sakis would activate a video or sound on a screen in front of them, which played during the time you decide to stay. -se.
Their interactions were recorded and the sakis were found to trigger audio stimuli twice as much as visual stimuli, suggesting that they would rather listen to the Arctic Monkeys than watch Planet of the Apes.
As the study progressed, their overall levels of interaction with both stimuli decreased, but their interactions with visual stimuli increased compared to audio stimuli. In total, of the three audio files that listened to the most music (the others were rain sounds and traffic noise). Underwater scenes turned out to be the most popular of the three video files, facing competition from worm videos and abstract shapes and colors.
Touch screen systems are designed to entertain and engage animals with interactions, stimulating cognition in ways comparable to activities they might perform in nature, helping to maintain their physical and mental health.
Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas of the School of Computer Science at the University of Glasgow said: “Our findings raise a number of questions that deserve further study to help us build interactive enrichment systems. cash.
“An additional study could help us determine whether short interactions were simply part of their typical behavior or reflected their level of interest in the system. Similarly, their different levels of interaction over time could reflect how attractive they found the content, or simply that they were getting used to the presence of the tunnel on its premises.
“Although they chose audio more regularly than video, the results were not statistically significant enough to know for sure what they preferred.”
The system, used on the premises for 32 days, is the first of its kind to offer monkeys a selection of stimuli, the researchers said. The interactions of the sakis were mostly brief, lasting a few seconds each time they walked or ran through the system, reflecting how they interacted with more familiar elements of their enclosure.
Sakis are often found in the lower canopies of the rainforests of Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.