Robotic dolphin shakes aquariums while solving ethical dilemma

As Chinese zoos and aquariums struggle with new bans on the wildlife trade, a New Zealand tech entrepreneur is seeing unexpected interest in her latest project.

Melanie Langlotz has helped build a life-size robot dolphin that looks and swims like a real bottle nose and can react to human gestures.

In addition to offering an ethical alternative to keeping dolphins in captivity and a novel tool for filmmaking and wildlife education, it could end up closing the gap for struggling Chinese companies.

Langlotz, an Auckland-based augmented reality gaming expert, said it started with an ethical dilemma a year ago.

She and her business partner, Li Wang, were asked to help design an aquarium in China with live dolphins and whales in their tanks, but neither of them was very comfortable with the idea of ​​animal captivity.

They came up with the idea of ​​using robotic or “animatronic” dolphins and decided to make it happen.

“I started talking to anyone I could get my hands on and who had something to do with animatronics. They told me ‘this is too difficult’, ‘it is really difficult’, ‘it is a true work of engineering art'” Because As they would be in salt water, there are a lot of electronic products there, much less that they need to be exposed for a long time. I couldn’t find anyone, “he said.

Finally, an offer of help came from two animatronics experts in San Francisco, Roger Holzberg and Walt Conti, who helped make robotic animals for movies like Star Trek and Jurassic World.

With its expertise, the first 270kg prototype was ready to splash around in the pool earlier this year.

Holzberg, the former Disney vice president and creative director, said the dolphin had a 10-hour battery life and would last 10 years in salt water, but the real magic was in its realistic appearance.

“This dolphin weighs, feels and has been designed to simulate everything from skeletal structure, muscle interaction with that skeletal structure, to fat bladders and weight deposits in a real adolescent bottlenose dolphin,” he said.

Volunteers who have been swimming with the prototype were quick to give it the go-ahead.

“People just believed it was real until they were told it wasn’t. It was absolutely incredible,” Langlotz said.

Among them was a boy with autism, whose reaction caught Holzberg’s attention.

“It’s what she didn’t say that spoke louder than what she said. She was a nonverbal girl who was captivated, amazingly focused. I can only express it as pure, open, love with the robotic creature in front of her.”

He said there was potential for dolphins to be used in therapy for behavioral disorders, among many other uses.

“This type of technology doesn’t just have to live in a themed aquarium. If I had to imagine a sequel to Whale Rider, where we could go to the ocean, this technology would serve incredibly well. This technology could also serve television and other types of media. storytelling very well, and other types of educational media, “he said.

The team is now looking for ways to mass-produce the dolphins and add features, including a functional hole.

They are also working on special tanks to house the robot dolphins, with the help of the New Zealand company Marinescape, which designed the Kelly Tarlton aquarium in Auckland.

Buyers are already lining up in China, where the government has halted the wildlife trade to stop the spread of Covid-19.

“It will be very difficult for any current operator to continue operating their aquariums, their oceanariums, the old-fashioned way. So most of the prominent operators of theme parks in China have contacted us,” said Wang.

“Just showing videos [of the dolphin] for the entire industry, they are very excited about what we can offer. “

Holzberg said they were already looking to replicate other sea creatures such as whales and great white sharks.

Its ultimate goal is to review the entire marine captivity industry.