Orangutans Will Soon Use iPad FaceTime

04 Jan 2012 | News | Ria Absin-Viente on Google+

The iPad has once again proven its universal acceptance and functionality with orangutans from Milwaukee Zoo that use it for drawing and other training purposes. What’s more striking is that the primates will soon be using iPad FaceTime.

According to a report released by BBC, the orangutans at the Milwaukee Zoo have been playing with the iTablet using simple drawing tool or app like “Doodle Buddy”. Zookeepers and supervisors that are monitoring the primates since May are impressed with how the iDevice works with the mammals. The training was done by holding the Apple tablet outside the cages, allowing the orangutans to touch the device using the mentioned drawing app.

The animals are noted for their attachment to moving and colourful objects, and using the iTablet is really beneficial for interaction and training. Richard Zimmerman who is a conservationist of US-based charity Orangutan Outreach said, “They love moving images. They love bright things”.

The charity is planning to give the orangutans full Wi-Fi access to make sure they have full access to images and materials needed for their training, with supervision of the persons at the zoo. The foundation is also planning to let the primates use iPad FaceTime with other animals within and from the other zoos.

According to Zimmerman, the attentions of the orangutans are easily captured with videos of their kind, and the love recognizing the same faces. Letting them use iPad FaceTime will let them watch and interact with each other, Zimmerman added.

Moreover, Zimmerman and the zookeepers are exploring options to make their iTablet more durable since using them with the giant mammals increase the possibility of being dropped or scratched. “As soon as we hand them over to the orangutans, we figure the lifespan could be as little as 15 seconds – whether they meticulously take them apart or just snap them in half,” he said.

The project is still on a pilot phase and is still limited to the orangutans at the Milwaukee Zoo due to the limited availability of iPads. Orangutan Outreach foundation however, is exploring for options to increase the number of iTablets they can use for the said project.

The foundation is also waiting to take advantage of the iPad 3 that is rumoured to be released early this year, as according to Zimmerman the original iPad is starting to become obsolete. “We’ve been waiting for the iPad 3 to come out to make the iPad 1 really obsolete, so we can pick up a few,” he said.

According to the agency, they can buy high-end iTablets if they want to, but they want to make sure money from their funds will be prioritizing the orangutans in need. They are hoping to get more iPad units this year.

“We could just go out and buy them, obviously, but one of the things we’ve trying to really adhere to is making sure that our funds actually go out to the orangutans in need,” the agency said.