photo courtesy SpeakDolphin  

With some estimating Apple has sold over 2 million iPads, there is no disputing that the device is currently the hottest gadget on the planet. If researchers with SpeakDolphin are successful in their quest to build a language interface allowing cross species communication, Apple may have an entirely new user base. Currently the project is in its infancy, but the researchers hope that by using touch screen technology they will be able to build a system that will allow dolphins to communicate fully with humans. While they are still evaluating other touchscreen devices to use in their program, researchers have begun to introduce the iPad to the dolphins at their Puerto Aventuras facility. To acclimate the creatures to the touch pad, the SpeakDolphin team show a real object to the dolphin and then ask it to touch photos of the same object on the screen. According to dolphin researcher Jack Kassewitz, “This is an easy task for a dolphin, but it is a necessary building block towards our goal of a complete language interface between humans and dolphins.”

Dolphin Uses iPad To Communicate (PDF Link) [via BoingBoing]

Related posts:

1. New Super Photoshop Will Haunt Paranormal Researchers and Ufologists
2. Researchers Uncover Yet Another E-Voting Security Flaw