The US Navy has incredible new recruits in its ranks. She published an investigative report on May 8, titled “Navy sea lions love to play video games.” informs the specialized site PC Gamer.
Here, “sea lion” is not the code name for the soldiers in a shadowy operation: for three years, the Navy has launched a program dedicated to training marine mammals to play on game consoles specially adapted for them, with in order to study the evolution of their cognitive abilities. Among the stars of the program is Spike, the first sea lion to complete the program established by the Navy’s research team.
animal cognitive sciences
“Their ability to decipher control of a cursor on a screen and then progress through a series of more complex games marks the first success in cognitive tests in California sea lions,” the Marine report said.
The game Spike and his ilk play consists of pressing a button with their snouts and then controlling a cursor across the screen in a rather simple maze. After crossing the finish line, they are rewarded with a herring. This is the most complex form of testing carried out by researchers. The animals have been previously trained to recognize the interface, button, cursor, etc.
“When he reaches the finish line, we applaud him and his trainer rewards him with a herring. The joy exchanged in the eye contact between him and his trainer, as they celebrate a victory, is palpable and contagious,” the Navy report says.
In addition to testing cognitive abilities, these activities also aim to keep them healthy and induce a form of enthusiasm that researchers have learned to decipher. Reward herring is also a strong motivator for marine mammals.
dolphins players
In all, more than 120 animals have joined the research program over the past three years, supervised by 300 people. Scientists from the Naval Warfare Information Center and the National Marine Mammal Foundation have come together under the banner of the Navy program to care for them.
A team of dolphins is also part of the tests. If the interface is quite similar to what is presented to sea lions, the logistics had to take into account the fact that dolphins can only play from the water. “The description of these tests is very good: they are simply dolphins controlling gamepads with their mouthparts to play video games after dark,” the report read.
It also states that the screen can occasionally become a giant television, “because the dolphins love to watch SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Source: BFM TV
