How lemurs can teach humans about a healthier way to enjoy technology
Lemurs appear to prefer to use tech when they share the controls with humans
Big Tech was always onto a winner. We humans simply can’t seem to resist the allure of their computerised wizardry. And it seems that we’re not alone.
For five red-ruffed lemurs at Blair Drummond Safari Park have apparently been having immense fun with a computer-controlled system that can be used to activate different sensory experiences.
For example, they can play music or the typical sounds of a rainforest, release the smell of apples, mangos or lavender, and play underwater scenes or abstract patterns on a screen.
The custom-built CreatureConnect system was split into two devices, one on their side of the enclosure’s glass partition, the other on the humans’ side, enabling the two species to collaborate.
Researchers at Glasgow University had expected the lemurs to want “to do their own thing”, but instead they found the animals were more engaged with the whole idea when they were sharing the controls with visitors.
As families descend into groups of individuals absorbed in their own private online worlds, perhaps the lemur attitude towards technology has something to teach us. An experience shared is usually all the better for it.
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