New York bats are currently being threatened with White Nosed Syndrome, which has inspired the creation of the Bat Billboard by Chris Woebken and Natalie Jeremijenko. Essentially, this large scale outdoor advertisement has been built to double as a cozy roost for the creatures, continually communicating the status of its inhabitants in text form.
The concept may seem strange at first, but this project aims to initiate a sort of conversation between the nocturnal winged mammals and humans as a way to raise awareness and incite compassion in light of the environmental crisis. The designers have constructed a hi-tech system by which the bats' high-pitched clicks are translated into written English on the digitally illuminated ad. Live noises are picked up within the Bat Billboard, cross-referenced with known sounds from previous Bat Library recordings and transmitted for people to appreciate.
Winged Rodent Translators
The Bat Billboard Transliterates Bat Talk in Real Time
Trend Themes
1. Eco-communication - Developing technology to facilitate communication between humans and animals for environmental awareness and preservation.
2. Animal-driven Design - Designing products and infrastructure that appeal to and benefit animals for urban cohabitation.
3. Sound-to-text Translation - Creating systems to convert animal vocalizations to written language for human understanding and interaction.
Industry Implications
1. Advertising - Integrating animal-friendly design into outdoor advertising as a means to enhance advertising and give back to the environment.
2. Ecology - Partnering with biologists to design nature-inspired systems that aid human understanding of ecological systems.
3. Corporate Social Responsibility - Including animal welfare and environmental impacts in corporate social responsibility initiatives as part of a holistic approach to sustainability.