SYDNEY, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Animal brains may hold the key to the next wave of innovation, a new study about animal cognition and behaviors from Australia's Monash University said on Tuesday.
Animal intelligence offers valuable clues about the evolution of human cognition and can help shape the development of smarter, more intuitive artificial systems, such as artificial intelligence and bio-inspired computational systems, said a press release from the Melbourne-based university.
The study by Monash University researcher Scarlett Howard highlights the surprising ways animal cognition is driving technological and societal breakthroughs, the release said.
From the flight mechanics of dragonflies to the vision of bees, Howard's research explores how the brains of small creatures can inspire advanced bio-inspired technologies - designs that mimic animal behavior, movement and perception, it said.
Animals are emerging as powerful models for developing new technologies, especially in fields like robotics and artificial intelligence, said Howard, head of Monash University's Integrative Cognition, Ecology and Bio-inspiration Research Group.
"Many of the processes and behaviors bio-inspired technology aims to simulate are ecologically relevant to the animal, such as collision avoidance and optic flow principles in bees, or flight mechanics in dragonflies," she said.
Examining how animals tackle unfamiliar or "ecologically irrelevant" tasks, which they wouldn't encounter in the wild, can lead to more accurate and adaptive technologies, according to Howard's study published in the new edition, peer-reviewed journal of Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
Understanding how animals respond to novel challenges may also help predict how they will cope with human-driven environmental change, Howard said. ■
