{"673537":{"#nid":"673537","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Video Illustrates Interactive Tech Created to Help Understand Dolphin Communication","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EComputers and dolphins don\u2019t typically occupy the same space. However, Georgia Tech researchers and marine biologists from the Wild Dolphin Project have been swimming with the two for more than a decade.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Wild Dolphin Project is the world\u2019s longest-running underwater dolphin research project, and this week, the organization is celebrating its 40th anniversary.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is marking the occasion with a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/YhopeQKbpZA?si=MEbiZvycODcfK6eA\u0022\u003Efun and engaging video illustrating the interactive computing technology its researchers have created to help marine biologists\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;studying dolphin behavior and communication in the open ocean.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EReferred to as the \u201cJane Goodall of the sea\u201d by National Geographic, Denise Herzing is the founder and research director of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.wilddolphinproject.org\/\u0022\u003EWild Dolphin Project\u003C\/a\u003E. She and Georgia Tech College of Computing Professor Thad Starner began collaborating in 2011 on interactive technologies to aid the project\u2019s study of a specific pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe initial CHAT (cetacean hearing augmented telemetry) device developed by Starner\u2019s Contextual Computing Group was a large chest-worn submersible computer that produced and recorded sounds underwater. Fast forward to today and CHAT is now two smaller units that fit on the chest and wrist.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECHAT works by having two marine biologists wear both units while swimming with the dolphins. The wrist device emits dolphin-like whistle sounds, while the chest device includes a hydrophone to detect and record sounds. The researchers made up the sounds to designate items they handle while in the water.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech video features an animated example of marine biologists passing a red scarf back and forth while triggering the designated sound for the scarf.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe hope is that the dolphins watching all of this can figure out the social context and repeat that sound to ask for the scarf,\u201d said Scott Gilliland, CHAT developer and Georgia Tech senior research scientist.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf that happens, it means that our dolphins can mimic one word in our tiny, made-up language.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGilliland and Starner continue to push CHAT forward to ensure the team captures this breakthrough when it happens. They are now collecting auditory field data to optimize their machine-learning model for identifying dolphin sounds in the open ocean.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, they expect CHAT to recognize if a dolphin repeats one of the preset sounds in real-time. The advanced system will notify researchers in the water of this event through bone-conducting headphones paired with CHAT.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDiscoveries in dolphin cognition will serve to further elevate the status of all animals on the planet and help us define our relationship with them,\u201d says Herzing, affiliate assistant professor at\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biology.fau.edu\/home\/affiliated_faculty.php\u0022\u003EFlorida Atlantic University\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECHAT is an ongoing collaboration between Herzing and Starner\u2019s Contextual Computing Group. The Wild Dolphin Project is a Florida-based nonprofit research organization.\u00ad\u00ad\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s College of Computing is celebrating the Wild Dolphin Project\u0027s 40th anniversary with a video look at School of Interactive Computing Professor Thad Starner\u0027s collaboration with the organization and the interactive technologies developed to help marine biologists better understand the behavior and communication of open-ocean dolphins.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new video from Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Computing highlights Professor Thad Starner\u0027s collaboration with the Wild Dolphin Project."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2024-03-14 17:00:16","changed_gmt":"2024-03-15 00:58:00","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-03-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-03-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673401":{"id":"673401","type":"image","title":"Developed at Georgia Tech for the Wild Dolphin Project, CHAT emits dolphin-like whistle sounds made up to represent objects divers handle in the water. ","body":null,"created":"1710435969","gmt_created":"2024-03-14 17:06:09","changed":"1710435767","gmt_changed":"2024-03-14 17:02:47","alt":"Developed at Georgia Tech for the Wild Dolphin Project, CHAT emits dolphin-like whistle sounds made up to represent objects divers handle in the water. ","file":{"fid":"256794","name":"GTComputing-CHAT-wrist-device-2023.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/14\/GTComputing-CHAT-wrist-device-2023.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/14\/GTComputing-CHAT-wrist-device-2023.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":125930,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/03\/14\/GTComputing-CHAT-wrist-device-2023.jpg?itok=xmXQVsGV"}},"673402":{"id":"673402","type":"image","title":"An animated image from Georgia Tech\u0027s video illustrating interactive technologies developed for the Wild Dolphin Project.","body":null,"created":"1710436072","gmt_created":"2024-03-14 17:07:52","changed":"1710436000","gmt_changed":"2024-03-14 17:06:40","alt":"An animated image from Georgia Tech\u0027s video illustrating interactive technologies developed for the Wild Dolphin Project.","file":{"fid":"256795","name":"Interactive tool for Wild Dolphin Project-animation-GTCompuitng video-march24.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/14\/Interactive%20tool%20for%20Wild%20Dolphin%20Project-animation-GTCompuitng%20video-march24.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/14\/Interactive%20tool%20for%20Wild%20Dolphin%20Project-animation-GTCompuitng%20video-march24.png","mime":"image\/png","size":708965,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/03\/14\/Interactive%20tool%20for%20Wild%20Dolphin%20Project-animation-GTCompuitng%20video-march24.png?itok=P1jBAJMK"}},"673403":{"id":"673403","type":"image","title":"Stock image of an open-ocean dolphin pod swimming underwater.","body":null,"created":"1710436178","gmt_created":"2024-03-14 17:09:38","changed":"1710436122","gmt_changed":"2024-03-14 17:08:42","alt":"Stock image of an open-ocean dolphin pod swimming underwater.","file":{"fid":"256796","name":"C.H.A.T. v60.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/14\/C.H.A.T.%20v60.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/14\/C.H.A.T.%20v60.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":134680,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/03\/14\/C.H.A.T.%20v60.jpg?itok=8cBimP9c"}}},"media_ids":["673401","673402","673403"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YhopeQKbpZA?si=blHw5L2T82gfoeb0","title":"VIDEO: Communicating with Dolphins, One Word at a Time"}],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBen Snedeker, Communications Mgr.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech College of Computing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nalbert.snedeker@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["albert.snedeker@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}