TECHNOLOGY

Current

Touchscreen Interface System. - Computer workstation and underwater touchscreen; coordinating all machines as the main point of communication with the dolphins. Hardware and software is synchronized with Macromedia Director, chosen for its abilities in on-screen animation, audio I/O, device control, and internet compatibility. Director is used to make on-screen buttons and response displays, synchronize audio and video machines, and record logs of each experiment.

High Frequency Audio I/O System - Computer workstation with multiple microphones and speakers using 44kHz sample rates, listening to audio up to 20kHz.. System parses and classifies data, communicates to the touchscreen computer, triggering response sounds and logs the event.

What we're working towards

High Frequency Spatial Audio I/O System - an array of 256 hydrophones, speakers, and lights, arranged in 2 distinct arrangements for the study and testing of the spatial qualities of dolphin audio. Arrangement A of the system is and approximately 7' high by 12' wide rectangle. Two duplicate systems are to be made in different tanks, allowing for remote communications between dolphins. Arrangement B is a 360 degree placement around an entire circular tank. System should be ultrasonic, listening and emitting as high frequencies as possible up to the highest recorded dolphin audio (250kHz). Each hydrophone will be matched with a speaker and a light to "react and respond" to the dolphin audio. This will allow for real time display and interaction.

Real-time Audio/Video, I/O Databasing System. (RAVIOS)- A digital system that constantly records with an audio "parser" to identify and classify sounds emitted by the dolphins. Clips would be sent to a database (video server), based on attributes attached either automatically by the parser, or by a human researcher. Programming in the system would then allow for the selection of a "response" clip - all in real-time. This system's visual front end will be the computer touchscreen, and audio front end will be the audio workstation. In addition to real-time uses, this system will be central to the recording of data, and its analysis.

Underwater "Videophone" - A dolphin-activated audio-video system connecting separate dolphin pools. This system will be constantly recording (digitizing) and databasing clips to the RAVIOS, a task central to enlarging the database of recorded dolphin sound, and in the analysis of dolphin-dolphin communication. Deluxe model would include multi-track audio I/O.

High Speed Internet - Works for both science, education, and publicity. Possibilites of connecting remote cetacean videophones.