Active interactions between animals and technology: biohybrid approaches for animal behaviour research

Papadopoulou, M, Ball, M, Bartashevich, P, Burns, ALJ, Chiara, V, Clark, MA, Costelloe, BR, Fele, M, French, F, Hauert, S, Heinrich, MK, Herbert-Read, JE, Hoitt, J, Ioannou, CC, Landgraf, T, Matchette, SR, Polverino, G, Sankey, D, Scott, DM ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9570-2739, Sridhar, VH, Strömbom, D, Trianni, V, Vo-Doan, TT and King, AJ, 2025. Active interactions between animals and technology: biohybrid approaches for animal behaviour research. Animal Behaviour. ISSN 0003-3472 (Forthcoming)

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Abstract

Biohybrid approaches – where living and engineered components are combined – provide new opportunities for advancing animal behaviour research and its applications. This review article and accompanying special issue explores how different types of novel technologies can be used in the field of animal behaviour from three perspectives: [1] comprehension, [2] application, and [3] integration. Under the perspective of ‘comprehension’, we present examples of how technologies like virtual animals or robots can be used in experimental settings to interact with living animals in a standardised manner. Such interactions can advance our understanding of fundamental topics such as mate choice, social learning, and collective behaviour. Under ‘application’, we investigate the potential for technologies to monitor, react, and interact with animals in a variety of scenarios. For example, we discuss how drones can be used to keep large herbivores away from valuable crops and robotic predators to deter invasive species. Under ‘integration’, we discuss possibilities for the coexistence of engineered and biological systems, augmenting the capacity or resilience of either or both components. Integration can be physical, for example livestock can have sensors sit in their inner body for temperature monitoring, or within the environment, where sensors or robots monitor and interact with animals, such as a short term earthquake forecasting method. Based upon these three themes, we discuss and classify existing biohybrid animal behaviour research, including the four articles included in our special issue. We also consider the ethics of this emerging field, highlight the advantages and potential issues associated with using technologies to create biohybrid systems, and emphasize on how such technologies can support the advancement of animal behaviour research.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Animal Behaviour
Creators:	Papadopoulou, M., Ball, M., Bartashevich, P., Burns, A.L.J., Chiara, V., Clark, M.A., Costelloe, B.R., Fele, M., French, F., Hauert, S., Heinrich, M.K., Herbert-Read, J.E., Hoitt, J., Ioannou, C.C., Landgraf, T., Matchette, S.R., Polverino, G., Sankey, D., Scott, D.M., Sridhar, V.H., Strömbom, D., Trianni, V., Vo-Doan, T.T. and King, A.J.
Publisher:	Elsevier Masson
Date:	14 March 2025
ISSN:	0003-3472
Identifiers:	Number Type 2414990 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	26 Mar 2025 14:36
Last Modified:	26 Mar 2025 14:36
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53304

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