Project Name
RTL-Groomer
Project Description
An allo-grooming device designed for socially left-out male ring-tailed lemurs.
Year
2018
Links
You might be intrigued, wondering why I made a grooming machine for Ring-tailed lemurs. This was a semester-long investigation I did during my “Interaction Design in the Wild” class co-taught by Parsons School of Design and San Diego Zoo.
The goal was to research an animal and to create an intervention that would improve their welfare. Throughout my project process, I had back-and-forth conversations with lemur experts at the Duke Lemur Center, the San Diego Zoo, the Bronx Zoo to make sure my project was fitted, meaningful and not anthropocentric.
The creation and iterations of this device are supported by scientific research in Ring-tailed Lemurs' social grooming behaviors as well as by Ring-tailed Lemurs caretakers and animal experts. The All-grooming device is a design solution to a real need that many lower-ranking male ring-tailed lemurs in their female-dominant social troops are facing in the wild or a captivated environment.