Extensions to Non-Human Species

A different direction that we might encounter in the evolution of the Global Brain is the inclusion of the intelligence of other than human species: If we look at the Internet map, we notice that the last large white areas (Africa and former USSR) are rapidly filling in with Internet nodes. But the vast areas of the ocean are still disconnected from the Internet.

There have been many reports on the intelligence of sea mammals and especially that of whales. There also have been many attempts of verbal or symbolic communication with dolphins and whales. The success was limited probably for a variety of reasons. We can imagine that the new hyper-documents with a point-and-click iconographic interface could perhaps provide a new channel for efficient communication. We suggested a computer interface for whales that is based on video-tracking: A monitor (or video screen) displays a superimposed image of a computer window and the video image of the whale. A specific feature in the video image can be tracked using commercially available software such as ``Mandala'' of the Vivid Group that has been used in virtual reality environments for years. The whale gets optical feedback about the connections between the motion of the tracked feature and the motion of the cursor on the screen. Collisions between the cursor and icons on the screen can be detected and used to trigger specific events. In a computer interface context this would correspond to a (video)-mouse without any buttons. The button-down event could be triggered by a specific (learned) vocalization of the whale simultaneously with the collision between cursor and the icon. A main advantage for such an interface would be that it is independent from direct exposure to physical interaction with the whales or water. We can think of solar powered internet stations floating on the ocean with (Iridium) satellite hook-up and (LCD) screens with video/microphone interface. With such an interface a common language is available that could be used for joint global tasks. For example surveys related to global change problems could possibly be done in cooperation with whales. Observation of whale behavior provides already indirect information about ecological changes in the ocean:

(...) In peak years during the late '80s, more than 200 humpbacks would be identified around Stellwagen Bank in Massachusetts Bay in a season. Last year, just 69 were recorded, and this summer humpbacks are an even rarer sight. At the same time, more and more are being seen in the waters around Jeffreys Ledge off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine.

The movement of the humpbacks is drawing much scientific interest, offering clues not only to how the endangered marine mammals survive, mate and behave, but also to changes that may be taking place in the seas -- the overfishing of species the whales eat, or in water temperature or circulation. In the murky and poorly understood deep-sea world, whales are one of the few visible barometers of change.

"Whenever a shift like this happens, it means something's happening in the ecosystem," says Mason Weinrich, a zoologist who heads the Gloucester-based Cetacean Research Institute and has been studying humpbacks for a decade. (...)

But eventually one can think of a world, where the global cyberspace is shared by all intelligent beings of this planet.