The issue of "depression", or a lack of engagement in animals who live in enclosed environments, such as zoos, is well documented. A famous case is the depressed polar bear Gus from Central Park Zoo who was eventually put through anaesthesia.

 

In parallel, zoos face an ever present need to stay relevant and appealing such that they can attract sufficient human traffic to fund conservation and research efforts on top of running the zoo.

 

In the meantime, there is a dual need to develop more creative and effective ways of educating zoo visitors. We think that we will be able aid the zoo in these respects by experimenting with tech-enabled solutions.