Augmentative and alternative communication devices (AACs) are designed to assist humans with complex communication needs. Recently, AAC use has been reported in non-human animals. Such tools may potentially provide enrichment and increase interspecies connection. However, there is no evaluation framework and little data available to assess AAC potential. Here, we examine seven months of a single parrot’s sustained use of a tablet-based AAC totaling 129 sessions within 190 days. After devising a coding schema, we propose a framework to explore the expressive potential and enrichment value for the parrot. Our results suggest that the choice of destination words cannot be simply explained based on random selection or icon location alone, and 92% of corroborable selections are validated by behaviors. The parrot interactions also appear significantly skewed toward social and cognitive enrichment. This work is a first step toward assessment of AAC use for parrot enrichment.

The concept of the animal Internet has flourished, with many conceptualisations proceeding from the premise that connecting animals online may enrich their social life. Yet we remain unaware of how – or even whether – online interactions (either live or with pre-recorded material) might affect how animals engage with other animals. We implemented a system for parrots to trigger live video calls with other birds or playback from a pre-recorded video call. The goal was to identify differences in engagement and behaviours. Over a six-month study, parrots triggered significantly more live calls and engaged longer in that setting relative to the playback condition, while the animals’ caregivers found greater value in the latter but preferred the live alternative for the birds under their care. The results begin to question what animals make of online remote connections, putting forward considerations as to how the internet can affect animals’ experiences.

Touchscreen devices, ubiquitous in humans’ day-to-day life, offer a promising avenue for animal enrichment. With advanced cognitive abilities, keen visual perception, and adeptness to engage with capacitive screens using dexterous tongues, parrots are uniquely positioned to benefit from this technology. Additionally, pet parrots often lack appropriate stimuli, supporting the need for inexpensive solutions using off-the-shelf devices. However, the current human-centric interaction design standards of tablet applications do not optimally cater to the tactile affordances and ergonomic needs of parrots. To address this, we conducted a study with 20 pet parrots, examining their tactile interactions with touchscreens and evaluating the applicability of existing HCI interaction models. Our research highlights key ergonomic characteristics unique to parrots, which include pronounced multi-tap behavior, a critical size threshold for touch targets, and greater effectiveness of larger targets over closer proximity. Based on these insights, we propose guidelines for tablet-based enrichment systems for companion parrots.

Over 20 million parrots are kept as pets in the US, often lacking appropriate stimuli to meet their high social, cognitive, and emotional needs. After reviewing bird perception and agency literature, we developed an approach to allow parrots to engage in video-calling other parrots. Following a pilot experiment and expert survey, we ran a three-month study with 18 pet birds to evaluate the potential value and usability of a parrot-parrot video-calling system. We assessed the system in terms of perception, agency, engagement, and overall perceived benefits. With 147 bird-triggered calls, our results show that 1) every bird used the system, 2) most birds exhibited high motivation and intentionality, and 3) all caretakers reported perceived benefits, some arguably life-transformative, such as learning to forage or even to fly by watching others. We report on individual insights and propose considerations regarding ethics and the potential of parrot video-calling for enrichment.