BONOBO CHAT
Description
BonoboChat is an app for mobile
devices that uses lexicons to speak to Bonobo monkeys. The Bonobo points to the
lexicon that corresponds with certain words. The creators of BonoboChat hope to
update the app with the ability to convert text-to-speech. They would also eventually
like for the Bonobos to be able to use the app to control the environment
around them: doors, vending machines, and even a robot (the BonoboRobo) that is
equipped with water gun.
The Positive Aspect
"The iGeners have redefined
communication. . .and latch on to and embrace any new communication tool and
give it their own personal spin." But the use of lexicons as a means of
communication is not a new idea. The idea behind the BonoboChat is a concept
called Augmented Communication. Often by people with mental and communicative
disabilities, augmented communication is a blanket term for methods of
communication that replace speaking or writing. Lexicons are used as a means of
communications for people with these disabilites. Augmented communication is an
overwhelmingly positive idea. Without it, many people would have no means with
which to communicate with the world around them. A recurring theme in the texts
that we are reading is the idea of always being connected, being able to
communicate with people across the world. Yet there are people with
disabilities that prevent them from communicating with the people directly in
front of them. Augmented communication gives them the chance to communicate
with the world around them, a chance that they would not have had without this concept.
The Negative Aspect
Bonobo Chat enables bonobos to use a
robot with a fake monkey head to enable them to interact with guests and do
tasks like open doors, operate vending machines, and even squirt toy water
guns. The reach of technology has extended beyond humans to even apes. Bonobos
use Bonobo Chat with an iPad that they carry around with them to communicate.
Nowadays, the use of technology starts at a very young age, and this is even
true for bonobos. They’re starting to learn how to use Bonobo Chat at even six
months old. Lexigrams are even used between bonobos.
In Chapter 2 of The Shallows, research was done that
demonstrated that tools like rakes and pliers “actually came to be incorporated
into the brain maps of the animals’ hands. The tools, so far as the animals’
brains were concerned, had become part of their bodies.” If this is true, then
Bonobos could have difficulty separating themselves from technology. It would
be ingrained in their brains, which shows the massive effect that technology
can have even on apes.
