Giving animals a voice—computer software that could tell us what they are thinking

 A computer scientist with a passion for horses has embarked on an interdisciplinary animal-computer interaction research project which could help us understand what animals are thinking and feeling.

Dr Steve North, a Research Fellow in the Mixed Reality Laboratory (MRL) at The University of Nottingham, is developing a Horse Automated Behaviour Identification Tool (HABIT) – new animal-computer interaction software. The aim is to identify horse behaviour from unconstrained (amateur) video so we humans can interpret those reactions and understand why they are happening.The research is being carried out in collaboration with Dr Mandy Roshier, an expert in anatomy and behaviour at the University's School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Dr Carol Hall, an expert in equitation science at Nottingham Trent University and Dr Clara Mancini, a senior lecturer in computer interaction design at the Open University.Human-computer interaction (HCI) is already well established. The emerging scientific discipline of animal-computer interaction (ACI) looks at the relationship between animals and technology.By bringing together experts in animal computer interaction, equitation science, ethology, animal behaviour and biomedical engineering the aim of HABIT is to develop a software programme that will automatically identify the behaviour horses are exhibiting and tell us whether the horse is stressed, sick or suffering.