Clara Mancini's Research Page

With Janet van der Linden from The Open University’s CRC, Jon Bryan and Andrew Stuart from Retrieva, I recently wrote a paper on the use of tracking devices with dogs in domestic contexts. The research found that the use of the technology influenced both humans and dogs, changing both parties in the relationship and the relationship itself. The work was nominated for Best Paper and presented at the 14th International Conference in Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp’12) in early September. Here are the paper’s full reference and abstract:

Mancini, C., van der Linden, J., Bryan, J., Stuart, A. (2012). Exploring Interspecies Sensemaking: Dog Tracking Semiotics and Meta-Ethnography. Proceedings ACM Ubicomp 2012, ACM Press, New York, pp. 143-152.

Abstract: The domestic use of tracking technology with pets is on the rise, yet is under-researched. We investigate how tracking practices reconfigure human-dog relationships changing both humans and dogs. We question the sensemaking mechanisms by which both humans and dogs engage in context-based meaningful exchanges via the technology’s mediation. We show how an indexical semiotic perspective could inform the development of interspecies technology. Finally, we discuss the methodological issues raised by doing research with animals and propose an interspecies semiotics which integrates animal companions and animal researchers’ accounts into ethnographic observation.

In early July, I gave a presentation about ACI at Minding Animals 2012.

The conference, which took place from the 4th to the 6th and had nearly 500 attendees, was organised by Minding Animals International (a network of over 3,000 academics, artists, activists and advocates, dedicated to the study and protection of nonhuman animals) as well as Utrecht University’s Ethics Institute, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Philosophy Department. During the event experts in animal philosophy, ethics, advocacy, welfare, behaviour, cognition and emotions came together to discuss their work under this year’s theme: “Building Bridges between Science, the Humanities and Ethics”.

The programme, which included hundreds of talks, nearly a dozen keynotes, several study circles and panels, a few film projections and two public lectures, featured world-class figures in animal-related science. The opening lecture was by Nobel Laureate John Coetzee (Professor of Modern Dutch Literature at Utrecht University) while the closing lecture was by world-famous cognitive ethologist Marc Bekoff (Emeritus Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado). Other keynote speakers and panellists included the likes of Harriet Ritvo (Prof of History at MIT), Peter Singer (Prof of Philosophy at Princeton), Dale Jemieson (Prof of Environmental Studies at NYU), Colin Allen (Prof of Cognitive Science and History & Philosophy of Science at Indiana), Raj Panjwani (Lawyer at the Supreme Court of India), and many others of comparable calibre.

Although I was very keen to talk about ACI with an audience of animal experts, I was also very concerned about the reception that I might encounter. My main concern was that such an audience might either not see the point of ACI or even see it as a dangerous endeavour. However, not only did Minding Animal’s audience seem to see the point of ACI, they seemed to see merit and importance in this new research area and its animal-centred perspective. Marc Bekoff, for one, had very encouraging words for the development of ACI, on the grounds that it seeks to make our world more “animal-friendly”, as he put it. I think this is encouraging for any computing researcher who is interested in venturing into ACI: if most computer scientists don’t get ACI yet, animal scientists do!